Malfoy's Wife
by bra4goten
Summary: They were married long ago and parted their seperate ways. A article in Witch Weekly brings Ginny out seeking a divorce. Draco is shocked to see her after all these years. And when she demands a divorce, he pleads for her help. Could he still want his wif
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Bra4goten here with another story. I'm going to write a summery here and chapter 1 will be out soon. Most likely tomorrow.**

**Hope you all are interested and please let me know what you think. Good or bad.**

**Prologue to Malfoy's Wife**

_London. September. Spring._

"Can I beg you on my heads and knees to stay here and help me a bit?" Draco said.

Every woman in the wizard world would have dreamed of receiving such a plea from the handsome, and extremely wealthy businessman who now topped the cover of Witch Weekly.

But not Ginny.

Because not many people knew their "bachelor of the year" was still her husband! Ginny intended to correct that little factor. But, when she arrived, Draco sidetracked her with a plea of help to ward off his new female fans.

Of course. Draco had another motive. Because as long as Ginny stayed, he planned to use every charm known to mankind to convince her to stay… and give their marriage a second chance.

Well there was a little peek of what's to come. Please let me know if you think I should go with it. I hope to hear from you all and I will have chapter 1 out possibly tomorrow…

Till then thanks and take care

Bra4goten


	2. When the past catches up with you

**Hello, here again with another story. Hope you like it as much as the others. **

**Chapter 1- when the past catches up with you**

**Bachelor of the year**

CEO and Entrepreneur Draco Malfoy

What? You didn't know that Witch Weekly gave out such an award? Well we usually don't, but after the lovely Rita skeeter met Draco Malfoy, owner and CEO of Diagon Alley's fastest growing empire, Malfoy Holdings. She decided it was time.

Wealthy, gorgeous and the most noble of Slytherin since Salazar himself. Draco Malfoy is the kind of hero we see in our boy who lived. You'll know why when you hear his story.

It was after the war, he who must not be named had finally met his end with our young Harry Potter. The people were safe and all was right with the world once again.

But the people were left with far too much destruction and many slipped into poverty. Due to the goblins siding with the dark lord. Many death eaters had ransacked Gringnotts and much of it fell away along with everyone's money.

Determined to help bring back order Mr. Malfoy decided to rebuild the bank. Sinking his own fortune into the plan at great risk. Then three months later Malfoy announced the opening of Malfoy Holdings.

With it came new jobs and new hope. With a new bank and a chance people were able to live again. Draco Malfoy helped many witches and wizards get their life back.

Maybe it's time we gave Mr. Malfoy some help in return. Ladies want to know how? Our feature story tells you exactly why Witch Weekly has named this man our very first Bachelor of the year…

At seven on a Tuesday morning in September Diagon Alley all was quiet. Many of the shops were just getting ready to open, while others had been opened a while ago.

Ginny Weasley walked from the nearby inn, passed a pub called _Dragon_, open for breakfast, and decided she'd go back there and wait over coffee if the office at Malfoy Holdings was unattended at this hour.

On edge about the coming confrontation with Draco she almost hoped it would be. No such luck, she soon discovered.

Draco Malfoy had always been an early riser, which must have been an asset in his business success. Through the glass doors she saw a woman behind main desk frowning at a screen, and when Ginny dipped the handle and opened the door, ringing a bell.

"Good morning" The woman was young, twenty-two at most and her voice sounded impossibly perky at this hour. Behind her head, a blonde ponytail swung keeping a beat with her words.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Ginny nodded and smiled "I'm here to see Mr. Malfoy" she said

"Are you wanting to make a withdraw? Making a deposit? Questions about the bank? Give me your name, and…" The blonde began.

"Actually none of those, it's personal" Ginny said

"Well give me your name…" This time she enunciated slowly, as if she dealt with too many people who weren't all that bright.

"Ginny" she told her. No point in fighting it she thought. "Last name?" the blonde asked again with a slow rate.

"He doesn't need my last name" Ginny bit out trying to keep her smile from falling.

"O-Kay" Miss perky ponytail shrugged and walked off down a short corridor in the direction of a closed door. She moved as if she was allowed to venture anywhere she pleased and she didn't knock at the door.

The door surely must had been Draco's private office but instead she walked off into another room, from which Ginny soon heard various clinking and gushing sounds which suggested that coffee was being made.

She took a couple of deep breaths, lost deep in emotions that were too strong and too complex to fully understand. Why shouldn't this be easy?

She traveled the miles primed for this moment and coolly determined. She really hadn't expected to feel so messed up about it.

Trying to center herself, Ginny leaned her elbow on the front desk. Her gaze idly wanders over the surface, taking in a pile of glossy printed papers, some pens and some muggle mints.

And then she saw it…the magazine that had brought her to Diagon Alley, right there in front of her. Draco's face grinned up at her. Handsome as a Greek god. His blonde hair begged for a woman's fingers to tidy its waves.

Even though she'd seen it countless times now, the image and the four words that captioned it in bold red letters still made Ginny catch her breath with shock and self-doubt.

Not to mention a healthy dose of anger, and something else that she didn't want to put a name on.

"Bachelor Of The Year!" trumpeted Witch Weekly's headline. As for the three-page feature inside, Ginny knew it almost by heart.

It told of Draco's success with the bank and how he helped the world get back to normal life. It quoted locals and Malfoy Holdings staff praising him in wonderful terms, and guesstimated his growing wealth in the tens of millions.

Finally just incase the cover had left any woman in London in doubt; it included several more photos that proved his good looks and stunning physique.

You'd be pretty mean to suggest that Draco Malfoy hadn't earned the Bachelor of the Year label. Ginny had only one small problem with it, herself.

She was already married to him.

Miss ponytail had made the coffee. With a big milk less mug of it in her hand, she finally reached the door and knocked. Then without waiting for an answer, she called, "There's another one, Draco"

Ginny heard his still familiar voice through the door "Early bird says the worm" he laughed.

"Yeah, already squirming. Does she want to make a deposit? Or is it a tour of the bank? He asked.

Miss ponytail opened the door a crack, leaned in and dropped her voice, but didn't drop it low enough. "No, she's going with the it's personal angle. Won't give her last name. Thinks that's an original game plan, just like the other forty-seven women who have tried it"

"And is she pretty? He asked chuckling. "I'll let you be the judge" she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. Draco couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay. Okay. So what's the first name?" he asked after settling down. Rolling her eyes again Miss ponytail shrugged "Ginny"

Thick silence. Ginny discovered she stopped breathing.

"Here's your coffee, by the way…oops!" Miss ponytail said.

Appearing in the doorway, Draco had almost made her spill it, but they both recovered in time. He didn't take the hot beverage, however instead, his gaze arrowed over Miss Ponytail's head and reached Ginny.

Lord in the flesh he was better looking even than in the photo's. She realized at once, as she took in a long slow drag of air. Better than all her memories.

And he looked at her as if he'd half expected her but didn't fully believe she was here all the same.

"Ginny" he said.

"Got it in one" her tone came out flip and unnatural. The tensions in the room made both of them feel slightly uncomfortable.

"You haven't changed much in eight years". His guarded expression didn't telegraph his opinion on any of the changes that had occurred.

"You have Draco" Ginny blurted out.

He'd filled out his strong frame over the past few years, and success and maturity had given him a confidence of bearing that made his jaw look as strong as iron and his gray eyes as steady as the moon.

And as Ginny knew very well, he hadn't ever lacked confidence, even in his early twenties.

"I guess this one was right" Miss Ponytail said. "You really didn't need her last name"

"Becky, can you go check that the minister's withdraw is ready for him?" Draco asked, not looking at Miss Ponytail.

His eyes seemed to have the power to heat Ginny's skin like a lamp, and oh, she suddenly remembered in such vivid, physical detail all the reasons why she'd loved him so much.

Why she believed so completely in what they had, why she fell apart when it ended.

"You might have to handle things on your own, this morning," he said. "And can you dump the coffee?" he added.

"Sure" Miss Ponytail said. Becky apparently. She disappeared back into the room and Ginny and Draco were alone.

Alone.

For the first time since the take it or leave it, marriage busting conversation that Ginny remembered every word of, even after eight years. Draco had left for outer London that same day, and hadn't been back since.

They hadn't even spoken on the phone. They should have though; they should have never let it drag out this long.

"I guess I know why you're here," he said. He looked wary, and ready to be angry if the right trigger was pulled. Ginny's heart beat fast her chest. "Do you?"

Draco sighed, "I wondered if you'd see the magazine." "If I'd see it?" She laughed briefly. "Sometimes I feel as if everyone in London has seen it"

"You could have called." He mimicked a voice every bit as perky as Becky's. "_I saw the cover story. Photos came out great. Congratulations."_

Perky, but with a metallic edge.

"You know that's not why I'm here." Her voice sounded scratchy, and not nearly as strong as she wanted it to be.

"Wait a minute," he drawled, in mock surprise. "You're not here because of Witch Weekly?" "Don't do this." Okay that was better. Harder. "Yes, I'm here because of Witch Weekly. Of course I'm here because of Witch Weekly. But not to…"

The bell rung again and the front door opened, and Draco took a step back into the doorway. Then froze as if it might be dangerous for him to move in either direction.

A woman stepped awkwardly into the building. She looked to be in here mid thirties. "Umm I was wondering about opening an account here," she said shyly ducking her head.

"Sure" Draco answered cheerfully. He wore the same smile showcased to affect the front cover of Witch Weekly, but he still didn't move.

To Ginny it looked as if he might make a run for it when he did.

"And will those accounts be handled by…uh…by you personally. Um. Or will someone else handle them?"

Draco's smile tightened a little. A stranger might not have spotted it but Ginny did and she was stunned at how well she remembered details about him like this.

"Not sure, at this stage," he said. "Because I'd rather be handled by you personally." She told him. "I'm sure you would." He sighed.

"Oh!" The woman suddenly clapped her hands to her mouth. She blushed and laughed. "I didn't mean that to come out the way it did! I'm so sorry!"

She took several steps closer and reached out, as if itching to give to give him an apologetic squeeze. "I'm really so, so sorry"

"We're actually closed right now" Draco said quickly, "Could I ask you come back at eight, when the bank opens, and give your details to my assistant?"

"Oh, of course" she reversed direction like a wind up toy, and the hands went back to her mouth, muffling another set of "I'm so sorry"

She backed up to the door, dragged one hand from her mouth long enough to open the door and left. The ringing of the bell protested as if it, like Draco had showcased its skills for too many similar women in recent days.

Draco sighed. "Can we close this place up and go grab coffee somewhere else? He said to Ginny. "I appreciate that you want to talk"

His eyes flickered over her taking in probably the way she aged, and the conservative outfit of matching skirt and top that she wore.

Them seemed appropriate, in her room this morning, for an assertive confrontation with her husband. Now they had her feeling plain and staid.

"Talking makes sense," Draco was saying. "We've both been stubborn about the situation for far too long. But it's obvious we'll never be able to do it here"

"No?" Ginny wasn't sure that she liked the idea of being with Draco in public. Even if "Public" did mean the quietest corner of the café she passed on her way here. On the other hand, a more private location had its downside, also.

"You think that lady was the first?" Draco drawled. He leaned his elbow at head height against the doorjamb, as if he already reached the end of a long day.

"Uh, not from what your assistant said, no. But I'd have thought the extra traffic was good for business" she said.

"Extra traffic? The whole of Malfoy Holdings has been under siege from the day Witch Weekly hit the homes. He glanced through the full- length front windows and spotted a pair of female figures moving toward the bank.

"Out the back way. Now. I'll lock," he growled.

This time, Ginny didn't argue. Didn't even say, "Serves you right" although she couldn't help thinking it. And that really was mean of her.

Get a grip, Ginny. Cool down.

Draco locked the front door, dimmed the front lights and ducked into the back room, all in the space of seconds. Ginny followed him, hearing a disappointed, "Oh, they're not opened yet." Through the glass door behind her.

"Let's go" Draco said.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her around the side of the small desk, so they could escape out the back. His palm and fingers felt warm against her skin, and his grip was a strong as ever.

He'd tried to pull her to London in exactly the same way. Grab, roll, go where I want, never mind your own plans.

Back then, on that issue, she'd objected. This time since it was just coffee and a long overdue conversation, she didn't.

His hand on her arm felt better than she wanted it to, however and the way he moved was like a charge of energy that overflowed into her own body and brought her back to life.

They covered forty yards in what felt like five seconds, and her heartbeat sped up.

"Here we go," Draco said and pulled Ginny into _Dragon, _the place she noted earlier. "Hey, Mr. Malfoy" said another perky girl.

He didn't flinch, so Ginny guessed the girl was an employee, not one of the stalker girls he mentioned. This must be the place described in Witch Weekly as part of his extensive and still growing empire.

"We'll take the corner table," he told the waitress. "And can you…like…move the plotted plants, or something?" he asked. "The dragon statue?" she suggested.

"Perfect" he said nodding.

"I'll get Thomas to move it" she called for Thomas and he moved the statue with a wave of his wand. The case was shifted so that it did a good job of blocking the corner table from general view.

Nobody seemed surprised by the move, which made Ginny believe Draco's claim that Malfoy Holdings was "Under siege".

Once seated, he didn't wait for a menu and ordered a Danish and black coffee for himself "Just keep it coming Natalee"

While Ginny asked for a muffin and a coffee. Both orders arrived rather quickly which meant they didn't have to spend long pretending they had nothing important to talk about.

Natalee left to serve some new guest, and Ginny seized her opportunity, because there had already been enough interruptions.

"Please don't pretend that you don't know exactly why I'm here," she said. Draco shrugged "Tell me straight out, and neither of us should have to pretend anything."

"If you want a divorce, Draco, ask for a divorce. That's all you have to do. Don't advertise yourself in a national magazine as being gloriously available, and wait for me to draw the obvious conclusions, the way the entire town of mine has." She spat.

"You think this was about me wanting a _Divorce_? You honestly think," he began.

"I've had hints and innuendoes and the same tired jokes over and over, total strangers coming up to me in the worst of times wanting to know the exact status of… well our marriage, if there was one." She growled.

"Okay, for a start, your dad's been with the ministry for about a hundred years; you know no one in a town is going to see you as a total stranger. Your life is town property, and so was mine, before I left."

Ginny ignored him and went on "My brothers wont leave me alone, and dad was threatening at one stage to…" but Draco didn't need to know about her father's threats to his son in law safety.

"It's been very embarrassing Draco" she finished lamely.

"Embarrassing?" Draco echoed, on a laugh. "Yeah tell me about it" That lady this morning was more subtle than most. Trust me, Ginny, I'm winning in the embarrassment stakes, hands down!"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you went out and did this article," she told him with a sharp edge. Draco's gray eyes narrowed.

"I never wanted this Gin! Is that the kind of man you think I am? Interested in that kind of cheap publicity? Hell, interested in getting dates for myself that way? Listen! The Bachelor of the Year headline was Rita Skeeter's doings not mine."

"You could have said no," she gasped.

"She said she wanted to report on the Bank and it's success. I had no clue she was going to turn it into match the perfect witch with Draco Malfoy" he spat.

"Let alone that it would bring this kind of response from them. This mess has just got started. You have no idea how hard this is!"

"Gee, all that extra money coming in the bank and your restaurant. Yeah, most people hate that good publicity, I'm sure!"

He frowned. "Don't do that thing with your mouth. It doesn't suit you."

"What thing?" she asked annoyed.

"It looks like you're sucking on a lemon." Still frowning, he reached across the table and tried to do something to her lips with his fingers, they way he might have brushed a crumb from a child's face. What on earth?

With his touch, Ginny could feel the tight muscles herself and wondered if that was why her face so often felt stiff and tired at the end of everyday.

Even before this whole mess with Draco and the magazine, she'd had so much on her plate. There was her teaching job at Hogwarts, Working with all those students and her brothers who depended on her greatly since their mother's death. And her father's health to monitor.

As well as his role in the ministry to support. She knew she needed some time off, but sucking a lemon?

Draco's fingers moved softly against her face, but she flinched away and spat "Gee thanks!"

"Gin, you're doing it again, please stop" he sighed.

"Maybe cause the compliments you're paying are so grand" she spit out sarcastically. "And again" he sighed.

"Draco, do you or don't you want a divorce?" she blurt out desperately.

"You wouldn't contest it?"

Okay, Ginny. Don't sigh. Don't suck on a lemon.

She lifted her chin, managed not to gust out the breath she was holding and said quietly, "No, of course I wouldn't contest it."

"You've had eight years to file for one, and you haven't," he said. "No, I haven't. Neither have you. But I want to now. It's way overdue, don't you think?"

Of course she was right, Draco told himself. About seven years and eight months overdue actually. He should have filed the papers himself; as soon as he'd realized that she called his bluff and really wasn't going to follow him here.

But he'd been stubborn about it. That was how he'd dealt with the hurt. He wasn't the one making their marriage impossible. He wasn't wrong about any of this.

Let Ginny take the steps to legally sever their union, if that was what she wanted. She never had.

He'd been so cocky at twenty- four, so sure of himself and his goals, of his decisions. "You know where to find me," he told her.

"And you know where to find me!" And the hurt and the disappointment had eased over time and hard work as it did with her too.

"If it's so overdue," he asked her at last. "Why haven't you done something about it before now? Why did it take some article to bring you here?"

She shrugged "Let's just say it opened my eyes shall we? Principles have a short shelf life"

"Principles?" the word startled him "Whose principles?"

"I'm not the one who walked out and wanted it to end. You did that Draco. So the divorce was you're call"

"I didn't walk out on us. I walked out on the god forsaken town." He spat. "It's the same thing isn't it?" she sighed.

"No, it isn't! I was clear on that before, I thought. There was no future for me there. Not one I wanted anyway. I needed this Ginny."

"What's 'this'?" she hooked her fingers around the word to make a notion.

"The bank, the restaurant, a chance to make the world better after the war. The way to make a future for myself in place where I wasn't just the orphaned son of dreaded death eater Lucius Malfoy who may stay on the good side if the love struck daughter of the great Arthur Weasley could keep him honest"

"But you still don't understand that do you?" He argued. "No I don't Draco. My father or our friends never saw you that way" she sighed.

"No, just everyone else did" he growled.

"A family is not something you can throw away Draco, my family was not something I could just walk away from."

Draco sat up straight "I was asking you to walk away from your family" he defensively cried.

"Would you just listen to us," she sighed.

Ginny did the lemon thing again as he searched for an answer. Yeah they were falling back into the pattern again. She was right a divorce was the best step.

She had been so beautiful when he married her twelve years ago. Her graceful figure. That wide, wonderful mouth. The red silky hair, flowing like a waterfall down her back.

Those big brown eyes, and she was still beautiful. The hair was the same only shorter now but she was beautiful. She looked tired at certain moments and he found that heartbreaking.

Draco drank some coffee and took a bite of his food, wondering how he could handle a divorce. They had no kids in their four years together.

Ginny had never been the greedy type on the contrary she was far too generous for her own good at times. She would never stake claim on his wealth he had acquired since they split.

"There's no reason why we can't do this quickly and painlessly," he said. "No reason at all" she agreed.

"Then it's settled, we will get this divorce started before you head back home"

"I'd appreciate that Draco" she said " No fuss"

"You're right I…" he began.

"Draco Malfoy" said a female voice that he recognized and he didn't get to finish his sentence.

It was Rita and he wasn't thrilled to see her, not now, not with Ginny sitting here uptight as she was. Before he could say anything she sat down at the table.

"Rita" he said hiding what he was feeling behind a fake smile. After all, the article had brought him some great money but it also brought Ginny, with her necessary wake up call.

"It's great to see you again" he lied.

"It's great to see you too" Rita grinned. She eyed Ginny with curiosity, masked as a smile then turned to Draco. Ginny gave an uncertain smile in return and pretended to be intrigued by her muffin.

"I should have called I know, but I was dying to hear your thoughts on the article. We've had a ton of great responses, let me tell you" She gave a little laugh.

"Their all dying for a follow up story" she grinned.

"What more could you say in a follow up story? He asked her a little too strongly.

"Well, the reaction, of course. The woman. Witch Weekly is primarily a celebrity gossip magazine Mr. Malfoy and you're a celebrity now." She grinned even bigger.

Like hell he was!

"My fifteen minutes of fame as they muggles say" he smirked.

"A lot longer than that if you leave it all to me" She talked it all out in detail while he called for another cup of coffee. It appeared this would change his life.

No thanks. He liked his life just the way it was, apart from the small problem of needing a divorce.

"Can I get back to you on that?" he asked regretting he already did the first article. He should have seen it before it came out then he could have put a stop to all of this madness before it started.

"I guess I should catch you later when we have more time to talk" Rita stood up not even bothering to look Ginny's way.

"This is where I'll be staying" She handed Draco a piece of paper, which Ginny could see some address scratched on it. "But I'll call you so we can set up a time to meet"

She laughed "Maybe I'll even open a account while I'm here"

No. This whole thing had to stop and now.

And he had to stop it at the source with something that neither Rita nor anyone else could ignore. Across the table, Ginny had brought back the lemon thing and Draco knew she wasn't impressed.

And then it hit him. She was the only obvious, tangible, workable solution to his current problem. If he didn't act at once, though it would be too late, it wouldn't be real enough.

He had to say it now, or not say it at all.

"Before you go Rita," he said, his voice smooth and casual as he could make it. "I want you to meet Ginny, the most important woman in my life and, I should tell you the reason you wont be able to call the next article Bachelor of the Year II."

"Oh, really?" Rita said with a clueless smile. Clearly, she was still a couple of steps behind.

"Yes, really." He reached across the table and grabbed Ginny's hand. He would have caressed it if he weren't sure she would snatch it away.

"Because" he smiled "Ginny is my wife."

Okay guys chapter one is here. Let me know good or bad….


	3. I need your help

**Chapter 2- I need your help**

"Just tell me, if it's not too much trouble, what that was for, Draco Malfoy!" Ginny said to her soon to be ex husband, through clenched teeth, as Rita gathered her composure.

Her big selling, drop dead gorgeous Bachelor of the Year already, excuse me, had a wife? And managed a more or less upright exit.

"Shh! Not yet." Draco whispered. "Not here. Let's go"

He stood up and grabbed tighter onto the hand Ginny was trying to snatch away. The he gave a quick nod to Natalee to say they were leaving, and he began to weave his way through the tables.

At least a dozen pair of female's eyes tracked their every move and she heard several whispered comments. "That's him!" "Merlin what a hottie"

"Not here?" Ginny echoed, as the door closed behind them. "Okay we tried your office, we tried your restaurant. What's next on the list?"

"It will have to be my house, I guess," he said. "Well I asked for that one didn't I?" she groaned. She didn't know why it bothered her to think of going to his house, but somehow it did.

She didn't think it would be a grand idea to venture into his private living arrangements, but she had to admit she was curious to see what kind of home he had set up for himself.

She her self had gone back to live at the burrow. And due to her mother's death she was still there. He on the other hand lost both his parents and had no family ties.

She wondered if he had an elegant bachelor pad. Or maybe it was a designer mansion?

Ginny didn't want to be so curious about him, especially after they just agreed on a divorce. Still less did she want to think there might be danger in being alone with him.

She was all over it; she had to be, for her own well-being. So then why was she so jumpy? Purely because this morning had been so much more complicated than she'd initially hoped?

Yes the best solution would be to discuss everything back at Draco's place, then get back to the inn, check out and leave town.

"I'm sorry about the quick exit, but I hate when everyone knows my every move" he said gruffly.

"I wish you'd been as concerned for your privacy when Witch Weekly approached you about that damn article". She growled in return.

"Damn straight!" he said. "One thing we actually agree on, at least. Hindsight is a wonderful thing."

"So why that ridiculous announcement to that woman, just now? If you want privacy in your personal life, why tell the world you have a wife, especially when we're not going to be married a day longer than we have to be?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"Gin, you saw what it was like back there. And I'm sure your ears are as good as mine, so you heard too. I've had it up to here, seriously, and notifying a very vocal woman like Rita Skeeter of the truthful fact that you and I are married" he paused to gently rub his temples.

"It just seemed like a handy tool for dealing with it. You'll notice she didn't hang around." He finished.

"Well she said you have many responses from lots of woman" she scoffed. "Well I can bet none of them are my style. And it's not how I would choose to start a relationship" he bit back.

"In any case, even if there had been a woman who'd made my heart stop beating and the my breathing get struck from the moment I first looked at her."

What would it be like, Ginny wondered to have Draco feel like that about her? Once upon a time he had. His words hadn't been intended as a reminder, she knew.

It was purely her problem she'd taken them that way.

She said quickly, "They will start again when they find out we're getting a divorce."

Shrugging he began walking slowly "Who's going to tell them?"

Sighing Ginny followed him "People tend to notice when there's no visible evidence of a wife in a man's life, no?"

Draco turned and stared at her with a hopeful expression "Then can I beg you on hands and knees to stay here and help me a bit Gin? He said. " Help me out with this?"

"Stay here? _Help? _You mean act like we're still really married? Are you joking Draco?" she gasped.

"I don't think so," he stated seriously. "Work it out and get back to me." She said as she started to walk away but he leaned across and stopped her, laying one arm across hers.

She froze. His bare arms brushed her. At one time they'd been way more intimate with each other than this, so she shouldn't feel uncomfortable.

Problem was, his touch opened up too many memories, and too many lost possibilities. "I'm not joking okay?" he said with his voice dropping low.

"I want this whole thing to go away, and all these woman approaching me with advances, made we see it's not going to, not on its own." He sighed.

"Or not at least till its driven me crazy anyhow. Ginny I'm not the type to put my head down and wait out a storm."

She laughed at that one "No?"

"I like to take action. I need to. You knew that about me eight years ago." True. "And it hasn't changed. So I'm asking for help."

"Now _that_ has changed." She couldn't help saying. "What has?" he asked clearly not understanding her meaning.

"You asking for help." She said. "Yeah, so?"

"Well that's never happened before." Ginny told him.

He shrugged, dismissing her claim as either untrue or unimportant, but she had a strong inkling in the back of her mind that he was wrong on both counts.

"Well it's happening now" he said, "Stay. Couple of weeks." "Draco, I …I can't." She stammered.

"You're on summer break still, since Hogwarts doesn't open till October this term. Your father and brothers can manage without you for a bit." His voice sounded pleading.

"My place is big enough for us to keep out of each others way," he said "And I'll be in the bank most days. The only thing I ask is you meet me a few times in public. Make it real romantic, so that everyone gets the idea. When the heat fades, we can see a lawyer, and you can head back home with those friendly divorce papers in your hand."

It sounded so easy when he put it that way, yet Ginny still told him "That's insane Draco".

Probably because her inner reaction was insane. Her heart shouldn't race like that. Her head shouldn't spin. And she should not consider for a second that he was offering her a second chance at their marriage.

Because he wasn't, and neither of them wanted one. After eight years?

When even without the Witch Weekly article he probably had half a dozen beautiful women ready to do his bidding at any given moment?

And most of all when the reasons for splitting up in the first place hadn't changed?

"It's not insane," he told her. "It's practical. There's no risk, is there, if we try this? After all, we're already married, and on the verge of a divorce that any sane person could have predicted before the ink on our marriage certificate was dry. Nothing worse we can do to each other than that!"

Ginny gasped "Is that what you think about marriage? About _our _marriage?"

If he hesitated, it was only for a second. "Pretty much" he said sounding quiet certain. Ginny felt both hurt and angry that he would look at their four years as man and wife so cynically.

No wonder he hadn't been in a hurry about divorce, before this. He clearly had no intentions of falling into the marriage trap again, so he didn't need the legal freedom.

For different reasons neither did she. Beyond the hurt however she was still thinking about what he actually asked for. For a favor. For help.

Self-sufficient Draco Malfoy, who once had a chip on his shoulder and would never admit he needed anyone in case someone noticed and who in fact never had needed anything, judging by the success he'd made of his life.

The same Draco Malfoy had just looked her right in the eye and asked her for help.

Ginny didn't have time to explore the reason why but it was the very thing that changed her mind. He had actually needed her and if it wouldn't cause problems for her family.

Maybe she would stay here close to Diagon alley a little longer and do what Draco wanted. Along the way, she may get a few answers to questions about their marriage that she hadn't known she had.

"I'll have to call the burrow" she sighed. "Is that the basis of your decision? Whether you're needed at home?" he asked scoffing.

"It's a factor in my decision Draco and that's final," she said. He was silent for a moment as if debating his reply but finally he just shrugged and said "We'll head out to my place then. Take a look at it, see what you think, and you can make the call."

Within a few minutes, they'd left Diagon Alley behind and headed off where the road offered stunning glimpses of green and white waves rolling to the shoreline.

"You're not in town?" she asked. "Not far out. Another couple of minutes…here."

"Come in and make the phone call to your family." He said leading her through the house. "They'll be fine, I'm sure" she said, and then realized it sounded like a commitment to stay.

"But if their not, then the deals off" she added, leaving her a way out.

He led her business like, into a large living room that opened to a magnificent view. "That there is my private line. I have a line in my office too and I need to make some calls myself, so just make yourself at home.

She showed her the kitchen and bathroom, then disappeared into a room. Ginny sat down at the desk and picked up the phone.

Her older brother Fred answered the phone and assured her, "We're fine, Gin. Absolutely. Don't worry." He said.

"You're making sure dad sees the healer when he's suppose to, right?" she asked worried.

" He went yesterday Gin" Fred said "He didn't want to of course. But George and I nagged him about it."

"And did Ron pick up his new robes? Because he has that function for the Aura department on Saturday and he needs them. I'm sure Harry reminded him. But I want to be sure."

"I'll check" Fred said "But you'll be back by then, won't you?" he asked

"Actually" she sighed, "I'm thinking of staying a little longer"

She could hear the deep breath Fred took in before he replied. "Why? Malfoy's not making any trouble is he? Won't he give you the divorce? After that article I thought he would be more than happy."

"Ginny if that prat is giving you trouble, I'll get all the boys and we can beat him up till he agrees to sign" Fred warned.

"Yes. No. I mean, yes, we're both only happy about it, but that's not it." God how could she explain?

"He's… asked me for help with some things, that's all," She continued to Fred. "And I kind of feel that I owe him"

Fred wasn't interested in what Ginny felt she owed him. "How long Gin?"

"Ten days, maybe a couple of weeks" she answered.

"A couple of _weeks? _Ginny, George and I have the joke shop to run, and Ron has his job, and dad is out of his mind cause your not here."

Bill and Charlie are too busy right now as well and you know how much help Percy is. To be honest, gin, Dad really was a lot of trouble when we tried to get him to the healer. I didn't want you to worry."

Ginny felt her temples pound. She closed her eyes trying to decide what to do. Okay so she would have to coach them on how to handle dad or just talk to dad herself.

But he just didn't seem to grasp it, with all the other commitments he had between his children and his ministry duties, and anyhow he always did say she overreacted sometimes.

And maybe she did. But she already lost her mother and she wasn't about to let she and her brothers lose him too. "Well maybe ten days" she said.

"Max, I guess it shouldn't take more than that to…uh handle this problem Draco needs help with. Maybe even a week.

Maybe she should tell Draco he was on his own. He'd been on his own for eight years already. Why did his sudden need strike her as so important?

She sighed into the phone and said to Fred. "Listen I'm going to ring Dad later and talk to him, and I'll owl you his next appointment date tonight. I'm sorry I didn't think this would keep me away from home this long. But I need to do this."

Fred didn't say anything and she finished, " I'm not expecting you to nag Dad. I'll do that myself when I get back." How? Arthur wasn't an easy man to talk to sometimes despite his easygoing nature.

"You all can handle things at the house, till I get there. Okay?" she told her brother. "Yeah I know" Fred said "But we just really miss you, okay?"

Which was why Ginny let herself remain the thing that kept the Weasley family together and functioning. Because she knew she was loved.

"I miss you all too" she said, then gave Fred the number to Draco's and rang off.

"I need to get back to the bank," Draco said coming up behind her. "How about I drop you off at the inn on the way? Then you can get your stuff and check out"

"You think you could find your way back here? I'll give you a map of course if you feel you can't," he said.

"No I think I'll manage it" she assured him. "And your father and brother's are okay?" he asked as they left the house.

"They seem to be," she said

She noticed that Draco had never actually asked if she agreed to his plan. He just assumed she would have. But she didn't feel like protesting about it now.

"So drop your stuff here," he said "Get settled in and help yourself to anything." "I can use the phone whenever I can" she asked.

"Sure. And I'll leave you my number in case you need anything" Draco told her. "Okay, thanks" She said.

"Then it would be really useful if you could meet me at the bank around one, so we could meet for lunch. It would be casual. Then tonight dinner at a fancy place would be nice and that dressier, so if you didn't bring the right clothes."

"I can give your name to a couple of shops and you could shop for something this afternoon."

"Okay, that would be helpful." Ginny tried to smile. "I'll cover the tab, of course. Feel free to buy as much as you need."

"How about you print out the full list of my duties and all wardrobe requirements, as a handy reference," she cut in.

He stopped and looked at her.

She glared at him. "Don't say that thing about sucking on a lemon again. Okay?"

"Actually, I was going to apologize to you" Draco sighed.

Her eyebrow rose in shock "For the lemon thing?" she asked.

"For putting too much on you. Do you need more time? Are you committed to this? He asked her looking concerned.

"Are you offering me an out?" She asked. "We've both agreed on an out where it counts, with the marriage." Not "our" marriage, she noticed.

Just "the" marriage. As impersonal as you could get. Not that she wanted to argue with that. But it was…sad. Even after so long.

"I'm committed," she said. Maybe if they could spend a few civilized days without a fight maybe she could go home without feeling like they failed.

Maybe she would discover why his admission of need seemed important.

"Great!" he answered. "We can make this work exactly they way we need to, I know it." Ginny would have liked a couple of words added, like "thanks" and "I really appreciate it" but she wasn't shocked when they didn't happen.

They made their way back to Diagon Alley and Ginny made her way to the inn's front desk and Draco headed off toward the bank.

As she checked out the man at the desk asked her at once, "You a friend of Mr. Malfoy's?"

"Sort of" she said. Not the answer Draco would have wanted, so she added, "His wife, actually." She saw the raised eyebrows across the desk, but didn't deal with them because she was too busy dealing with the strange feeling inside her.

Draco's wife.

She said those words so proudly and so happily for four years, all through it. Then she'd gotten her first teaching job at Hogwarts and he left. And she'd never said them again.

Who knew it would churn her up so much, saying them now?

There is chapter 2. I hope you like it and please review good or bad. Chapter 3 will be out soon. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed andI hope you keep reading...

Bra4goten


	4. Convincing the world

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I'm glad you like it and I hope you continue to do so.**

**Chapter 3- Convincing the world**

Malfoy Holding's was quite crowed by the time Ginny showed up and quietly slipped through the front doors. Becky stood behind the front desk, answering questions and looking quite annoyed.

"I'm going to see about opening a vault" She heard a woman tell what appeared to be a friend. Or competition for all Ginny knew.

"Will that be with Draco?" the girl asked.

"It has to be, as far as I'm concerned. Where is he? Still locked up in his office?" The first girl replied making Ginny roll her eyes. These women didn't know Draco. Yet neither did she anymore.

Ginny cleared her throat and spoke over the female voices "Becky?" she said.

"Oh, hi Ginny" Becky smiled and waved, as if she known Ginny for half her life. She almost laughed at the difference of the greeting compared to the one she got this morning. Draco must have brought her up to speed on his plan.

"Is my husband around, do you know? We're supposed to have lunch." Ginny asked smiling.

The door to the office opened and Becky hollered down the hall. "Draco? Is that you? Ginny's here for lunch".

You could have heard a pin drop as all jaws dropped and the front lobby seemed to still. Ginny felt a wicked burst of pleasure that shamed her as soon as it happened.

Yes, that successful, handsome man is my husband, but don't go off to drown your sorrows, ladies, because this is all an act and we're getting a divorce as soon as we can.

Our marriage didn't last. In truth I have nothing to boast about. Thinking this she suddenly wondered what shape her mouth was.

Lemons again? She hoped not, she never thought of herself as a bitter person in any way, but maybe.

Draco appeared. "Ginny" His face lit up as if she'd been on his mind all day. It was an excellent performance. "I wont be back today Becky," he said.

Everyone in the room probably imagined, from the look on his face, that he would be spending the rest of the day in bed. With company.

But they were wrong of course. He had another office at home. Becky would find him there, if she needed him. She knew it. Draco knew it. Ginny knew it.

Everyone else was free to think what they wanted too.

"Ready Gin?" he asked putting his arm around her. "So?" the girl from earlier said looking at the husband and wife. "Bachelor of the Year?"

"Hey" Draco said shrugging "Sometimes reporters don't always get the facts right" he said with a regretful grin and dropped his arm around Ginny. He couldn't help but notice how nice it felt in that position.

They made their way to the restaurant and as soon as they were seated, at the most visible table she noticed. Ginny told him. "I'm not going to like this Draco."

"Gin" he sighed "We'll only have to keep this up for a bit longer. Once the heat dies down we can go back to our normal lives. I promise."

"Good" was all she said.

"Remember how easy a conversation was with us?" he said noticing her thoughtful face for a moment. He became shocked when he heard the huskiness in his voice. "Easiest thing in the world"

Heck, where did that come from? He wondered. Not just the words but also the tone of his voice as well. What was he trying to do here? Him and Ginny were through. Over.

They couldn't go back. Not when the problems still existed.

"So how is Hogwarts these days? He asked noticed they were slacking on their performance. "You still love teaching?"

She smiled as she thought of her work. "Yes. I think I always will." She said.

He smiled "Can't be easy for you."

"I had a tough class this past year." She nodded. "A few of my students made the year a little challenging for me. Slytherin of course" she told him as if he needed to know his house still continued to torment professors.

"Well I'd be lying if I didn't say I was proud to see Slytherin house hasn't changed." He smiled smugly.

"Yeah. I suppose you're right. I feel they same way about Gryffindor every time we beat them." Now it was her turn to look smug.

"And your family? How are they doing?" he asked pretending to not hear her crack on his old house. He didn't hear her phone conversation this morning, but remembered that it was the factor in her staying.

To see if the rest of the family could survive without her. This had been the clear implication. Ginny's mum had just passed away when he left.

And her brothers turned to her for support. She was the next thing to a mother they had. But they had jobs and responsibilities. Her older brothers Charlie and Bill had wives and babies, even.

He couldn't figure out why they depended on her so much. As for her father…

If he hadn't changed much in the last eight years then he was a good man still. Hardworking and committed to serving the ministry of magic.

But after Molly's death he through himself into his work and used his heavy schedule as a shameless excuse to set aside all responsibility for his own health.

Draco noticed it shortly before he left and mentioned it to Ginny a few times but she never listened.

"I just lost my mum," she told him then. "I'm not going to lose my dad too. If I have to nag him to every appointment I will. If I have to keep after my brother's to keep straight then I will."

He didn't press it further and how could he? Not everybody faced a challenge like he did, wanting to take action, fight, learn, and change.

"Well everyone is doing good. Fred and George still have the shop. And Ron is one of the top Aura's now; he's even dating Luna lovegood. Bill and Charlie are good." She told him.

"Oh, and Harry and Hermione are getting ready for their first child." She added.

"All thanks to you" he said. "You helped them through a difficult time"

"Well, I tried. It was the only thing I could do. When we lost mum." She tried to smile and he leaned closer to grab her hand.

"You never take credit where credit is due" he sighed, rubbing her hand with his fingers. "Well…" she smiled. And looked with an expression of relief.

"Here comes our lunch!" she said. "So we can let go of each other, you mean?" he dropped his voice and studied her face. "Was it that bad? Touching each other?"

Hell now he was flirting. That wasn't part of their plan. His only excuse was that it would help their performance as a married couple.

Ginny didn't answer instead she said "Let's get our stories straight on this marriage case someone ask"

Draco shrugged. "Let people think what they want as long as they see us happy. Who cares what they think. It doesn't matter if we appear newly weds or old timers."

"I agree, but I think it would still be wise to have something to fall back on just in case the questions start flying." Ginny said.

Draco shrugged "Then we'll tell them the truth that we have been married for twelve years and have been doing the lost distance thing due to other commitments by both of us."

Ginny frowned and Draco thought yes, I'd hate that too. Draco didn't tend to do things part way. When he wanted something, he got it. When he felt something, it was with every part of his body.

Marring Ginny twelve years ago completed every part of him. Body, mind, heart and soul. She had felt the same way he was sure of it. Maybe that was why they couldn't compromise in the end.

They needed either joined lives or separation. Something they both had in common. After all they were the all or nothing type.

And they ended up with nothing.

"Well I guess it's all we got," she said. "Yeah but only if someone ask. I have some things to do this afternoon Gin. And you need to buy some outfits for dinner tonight and tomorrow."

"I suppose I should. Wouldn't want you to get tired of my limited wardrobe" she rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"I wasn't implying your clothes…" he began but Ginny cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Don't bother. I'm going to hit the shops now so I can rest a while before dinner." She said standing up.

Draco quickly stood up after her. "Ginny I wasn't trying to upset you." He said.

"I know. I'm just a little tired that's all." She said.

He seemed to buy it cause he didn't question her any further on the matter as they exited the restaurant.

"Okay well the shops are expecting you and feel free to buy anything you want. Remember I'm covering the tab. I'll see you later tonight." Draco said squeezing her hand softly.

In truth Ginny was tired. Tired of wondering why she agreed to stay. This was beginning to drain her. She could feel it. But he asked her for help.

And husband or soon to be ex husband, she could help him this one last time. She just hoped in doing that she wouldn't need to help herself.

Draco got home around six that night and was surprised notto see her as soon as he walked in. Surely she would have heard him come in or at least his footsteps across the house.

But she didn't or she didn't care to show herself to him. Maybe she was asleep? He had talked to the owners of the shops he told her about and heard she had some beautiful outfits.

And now he felt a very male curiosity about how she would look tonight. And to where she might be. Walking up the stairs he headed to his room.

He would get out of his robes first and then look for her. He walked past the bathroom and swore he heard something. His curiosity shifted and took a more immediate form.

Quietly and slowly he opened the door. Just as Ginny stepped out of the tub. He got a glimpse of skin. A lot of skin, glistening with water droplets.

And god help him he couldn't take his eyes away from her. She was completely naked and completely beautiful. Ginny paled and gasped as she scrambled for her towel.

No, Draco. She wanted to die. She quickly reached for the towel and his view got even better. Quite fabulous, in fact.

"Get out. Right now." She screamed.

Draco reluctantly turned away, hearing her voice carry down the hall. "How dare you barge in on people. Have you ever heard of knocking?"

At that point Draco walked out of earshot, but the whole scene of her naked wet body stayed on his mind more than it should have.

How could he have forgotten the way she got to him? How was it so strong after so long? Draco knew he would ache all over again when she went back to her family, the way he ached for her month after month when she hadn't followed him here eight years ago.

He didn't want to think about it. Definitely didn't want to let it show.

A few minutes later, from his room along the corridor he heard her footsteps in the hallway. He called out a greeting to warn her of his presence just in case hadn't gotten dressed yet.

She had he found out a minute later when he entered the room. The view was still pretty spectacular however he admitted to himself.

"I thought we could show up for dinner around seven," he said, making his voice as bland as possible. "As long as it works for you. And I'm sorry for walking in on you." He added.

"It's fine." She answered "You just caught me off guard. And besides it's not like you haven't seen me before" she said though he could tell she was still upset about it.

"Seven would be okay. I guess I'll go get ready then" she told him and headed for her room. By the time he got ready for dinner in his black dress robes and headed for the living room she was already ready,

And she took his breath away as she came down the stairs.

The brand new midnight blue dress made a wide v from her shoulders down the top of her breast. A little lower it clung to her body tightly finishing just above her knees.

Her high heels nicely matched her dress and made her legs look longer. She had piled her hair loosely on her head allowing a few strays to curl around her face.

Her eyes were darker than usual and her mouth looked fuller, as if she knew what kind of effect she would have on him before he even seen her.

As if she wanted it and answered it with a reaction that was every bit the same.

Don't let her see it Draco. Play it down.

Because where could this go? Nowhere. The same old ground.

Desire was one thing but a marriage was different.

"You look nice." He said as they headed out. It sounded like a polite formula he could barely trouble himself to get out. "So do you," she answered back, her voice a little thin.

"In that case we should make one convincing couple," he said to her.

"Is this achieving anything Draco? How long before we can conclude that it's working, or isn't? I'm not staying here if there is no point."

"Ginny everything is going to work out and you'll see it will go by before we know it" Draco said.

"You're right. I'm sure everything will be okay" she tried to smile. Draco got the idea she might have been reassuring herself rather than agreeing with him.

They knew every table was focused on theirs. They dangled in small talk over dinner of lobster and steak. Talking briefly of the weather and Hogwarts upcoming year.

Each smiled and laughed, as any normal married couple would. Yes it was quite a show. Draco noticed a repoter for the Daily Prophet and signaled him over.

"Danny" he called. "Over here."

"Evening Mr. Malfoy." Danny said. "How about a picture for the paper?" Draco asked.

"Really!" Danny asked in surprise. "Wow, This will defiantly make the front page. Bachelor of the Year" he laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you get the caption right. Draco and Ginny Malfoy. Owners of Malfoy Holdings share a lovely dinner." Draco laughed.

Danny snapped the picture and thanked them before moving on to another table.

"Want to take a walk along Diagon Alley?" Draco suggested. "There seems to be a crowd of folks out tonight. Someone could see us and fuel the rumors of our marriage."

"I guess I could stand it for a little longer" she answered.

Outside, he put his arm around her, but they didn't talk and she had time to see the looks they attracted. She wondered what they were thinking.

Was this really a long distance marriage that Draco forgot to mention to them? Were they newly married? Whatever the truth was it had to be clear to most people that the Bachelor of the Year thing had been blown out of the water.

They stopped coming up to the small lake that rested near then end of Diagon Alley. The lightening bugs flickered on the water, blending in with the soft light of the moon.

If you looked really hard you could see the flowers swaying softly with the breeze. "Good spot." Do you think?" Draco asked.

"Yes. It's a beautiful spot" she answered, but that wasn't what he meant, it turned out.

"For me to kiss you." He whispered. "Oh, no you don't Draco. Do you really think…?" She stammered.

"Yes I do think." Draco said and he swung her lightly across the front of his body, and then looked down into her face. His mouth was only inches from hers and she could feel he getting closer.

And it was a good thing he was strong cause she wasn't at all, right then. She was surely going to fall if he let her go.

"A small one Gin, please" he said. They were so close she could feel his breath on her skin. "Please"

Before she could protest he finished speaking and kissed her. He went for it and didn't stop. He tasted familiar, and yet as new as something she never experienced before.

His lips were parted slightly, and they moved as if they were on a quest for some new found discovery. Ginny's own lips softened on a sigh.

Her closed without her permission. This was crazy. It was dangerous. "That's enough," she managed to say, even though she didn't stop.

"No it's not" he sighed. "It's nowhere near enough." And bent his head and kissed her again. Sending her falling into a world she forgotten she once belonged to.

**There is chapter 3. Hope you guys liked it and I want to say thanks to all of you who have reviewed.**

**Musical mooky, Holy Pancake, Writrfreak15, plzkthx101, Dracoandme, Madame-s-Butterfly, Angeligue Collins. **


	5. Letting it all out

**Hey guys. Thanks for the wonderful reviews. Hope you keep liking it.**

**Chapter 4- Letting it all out**

With the first touch of her lips on his, Ginny had turned his world upside down. He couldn't think of anything but her body in his arms and her taste in his mouth.

He couldn't remember what this was supposed to be about, or why it would have to end. He wanted her a dozen different ways.

He wondered how many times he had dreamed of Ginny in the last eight years and not known it. Had he relived the fulfillment of their marriage in the safety of his mind and then suppressed the dreams before morning?

He had barely started when she told him "That's enough" and he knew she didn't want to end their kiss anymore than he did.

Mmm he was right.

He couldn't believe that none of their passion had gone away. If they had been anywhere more private he would have surely slipped that dress off her right then.

"That's enough, Draco…" she said again, after another breathless interval. "No" he told her as he continued to run his hands down her back. Taking in her flowery scent.

"I can feel how much you want this, Gin, so why stop?" he whispered in her ear.

"Cause in a minute someone going to tell us to get a room." She said but she didn't pull away from him. She just closed her eyes tighter and tried to press her lips together, denying him entry.

It didn't faze him. "You have a point,…" he told her. "And I have lots of rooms." He wished they were in one of them now.

Bedroom, living room, study, didn't matter. He'd take a broom closet if he had to.

"Draco, come on" she said pulling away from him

"You know why we're doing this, Draco and it's not as an appetizer before the main course. It stops here." She sighed.

"Why?" he asked folding his arms.

"Why?" she snorted, "Because we are getting a divorce. Because I'm doing this so you can be free of this stupid article. Do I have to remind you of that?"

"Do I have to spell that out for you, no, I'm not the kind of woman who can casually jump into bed with my almost ex husband for old time's sake?"

"Nice farewell performance Draco, thanks for the memories. No I'm not that woman."

Draco frowned "That's not what I was thinking" he cried. Ginny laughed wildly "Were you thinking at all? Everything that split us apart eight years ago is still there. Why make this any harder on us?

"Are you admitting it's hard?" he asked

"Yes it's hard. It's been hard since I saw you this morning, at the bank. And I'm wondering why I ever agreed to stay. I guess my protective feelings weren't working today."

She looked down so all he could see was her dark eyelashes. But he knew her well enough he didn't need to see her eyes to know what was wrong with her.

"Do you have any of those now, Gin?" he asked softly. Brushing his forehead softly against hers he sighed. "You know self- protective feelings, I mean."

She jerked back from the contact. "Of course I do. What are you saying?"

Draco groaned, "You give too much. You always have. You're doing it now. Giving so much, with one kiss."

"And you're just standing there and taking it?" she said, "Even though you're telling me it's not good for me?" "Yeah I guess so." He said.

"I seem to be, don't I?" he went on, still vague. "Taking it and wanting more. Wanting so much more."

"Well, that makes sense! Thanks for your generous insights!" She twisted out of his arms, spun around and walked away, her shoulders hunched and tight with anger.

"Wait Ginny!" he cried.

He caught up to her in seconds and curved his hands over her tense shoulders. But she shook him off and kept walking.

"Take me home" she spat. "Yes, and then we'll talk," he agreed.

Ginny shook her head "There's nothing to say." "There is if you're angry," Draco said.

"I've been angry for eight years, Draco" "So have I" he reached out and touched her hair "Don't you think it's worth working out if one or both of us is right to be angry after so long, and how it is that we can manage to kiss like that when we're about to file for a divorce."

"I don't what to examine any of that. I don't see how it would help." She growled. "I think it would help us a lot. We both could use some help for the future." He said.

"You're not saying, you can't be saying that you want to reconsider the divorce?" she gasped. Yeah it was a crazy question but a necessary one.

Draco thought about it. She looked scared, overwhelmed, and hostile even. "No, I'm not saying that" he said slowly "But doesn't this give us the chance to find some answers?"

"Everything was so unfinished, eight years ago. It all hung there, locked in our stubbornness and our refusal to speak after I left. This time I want no loose ends." He sighed again.

"I don't want anything holding me back. I want to move on"

"So do I. So do I! Shoot Draco sleeping together wouldn't be the way to do it. That wouldn't tie up anything." She yelled.

"No." Every cell in his body told him he didn't care if being together created more loose ends. It would feel like heaven and he wanted it.

No question asked. No second-guessing. No regrets.

"We got married to young, that was all." Ginny's words brought him back to earth with a jerk. "We got ourselves into something that didn't work for us in the long term. We're old enough now to get out of it without hurting each other again surely."

"Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you" he drawled, he couldn't keep the skeptical edge from his voice.

"We both had to grow up fast, Ginny, don't forget. You from the time your mum got sick. Me, from…yeah."

From day one. This was a sure fire way to drain the heat from the atmosphere. Draco's childhood.

"What are you saying, Draco?" she watched him pivot around, dragging his hands from his pockets. "That your right, our break up was inevitable, I guess maybe now we can part right this time." He shrugged.

"We really shouldn't blame ourselves…"

"I'm not blaming my…!" she began. "Or each other," he finished quietly, undercutting her protest. "I m saying we made choices and those choices weren't compatible, which means that what happened to our marriage was inevitable. Not something to regret."

"It was something to accept. Celebrate even." He finished.

"Celebrate," she gasped.

"The fact it was good, it was very good Ginny." He told her. "Okay I won't argue that" she agreed.

She'd felt sometimes as if they were the king and queen of the whole magic realm. Once upon a time she was utterly blessed.

Yes, their marriage had been good. So good it hurt to think about how far they moved away from those times in the years since.

Sighing he leaned over the rail staring out into the lake. He didn't say anything and she just watched him intently. God he wished he knew how light conversation turned to this shit.

He didn't want to fight with her. He spent enough time fighting before he left eight years ago. Wasn't she just saying they were adults now?

Then why in the hell weren't they acting like it?

"You know" she finally said "When I look at you here, with your bank and restaurant and everything you have worked so hard for. I see you happy."

She was speaking as if the thought just popped into her head. "I start to wonder why you even stayed as long as you did."

His jaw dropped, his eyes narrowed, he gave her the most disbelieving look, and the whole atmosphere changed in less than a second. For the worst.

"You wonder why I stayed?" he repeated. "Don't you _know_ why I stayed?" he swore. "Because of you, Ginny. What other reason could there have been?"

Ginny was surprised "Because of me?" she asked.

"We were together, remember?" his voice heavy with sarcasm. She looked hurt by his outburst and he had to admit right then he didn't seem to care.

He swore again under his breath as he turned to face her better. "Then we had this little wedding thing," he went on. "Which forgive me if I'm being too obvious here, created this other thing called commitment. JOINED lives."

He barked at her causing Ginny to laugh bitterly. "You left Draco. I'm still there, but you left as soon as it suited you, so how can you claim you stayed for me?" she cried.

He shook his head, frowning at the lake turning so he wasn't facing her at all anymore. "You were waiting to start your job with Hogwarts Gin, your mum just died and you became the focus of you're father and brothers."

"I stayed six years longer than I wanted to. You knew I hated it there Ginny and you knew I wanted to do something good for the world."

Her throat felt tight. He was talking as if they sat down and made plans of leaving. They never had. She was certain; Draco was never the type to openly discuss his feelings.

She reminded him, "You went on what you said was a mission to help after the war. First stop Diagon Alley." It hurt to talk and it really hurt to yell, but she yelled anyway.

"Next thing I know I walk in from dads and you're home again talking a mile a minute about how you wanted to rebuild Gringnotts. It was practically a done deal, already."

You had people working on it, you bought the bank, and I'm the last person to know." She yelled.

"Only cause I had to move fast." He yelled back. "Someone else was going to snatch it up, if I didn't act."

"Then maybe you should have let them." She cried. "Why did it bother you so badly?" he asked loudly.

"Cause you never said you were looking to help that far away!" Ginny cried again.

"I did. I talked about helping once Harry killed that bastard and we were safe to live again" He didn't look at her as he focused once again on the lake.

"You just didn't want to listen"

"Because I didn't want to move so far away from my family! I though you would understand that" she argued.

"I did understand Ginny for six bloody years I understood." He growled.

"Families last forever Draco"

"Forgive me but I never realized I married seven people. I thought I only married you. That _we_ were the important partnership, the two people whose futures we had to consider."

_I never realized I married seven people._

The words shocked Ginny, and she attacked back without a second thought.

"You wouldn't have a clue what it's like, would you, to be close to…?" She stopped, horrified at herself.

"No" he agreed, his voice strained. "You're right. I wouldn't know what it's like to be close to a loving family. Thanks for pointing that out. And thanks for attacking me with it Gin, as if it's my fault."

Draco moved and began walking away and somewhere close by a camera clicked. Startled by it Ginny looked around and noticed the man who had taken their picture earlier.

He had one heck of a smile on his face and a set of very different shots of Draco and Ginny Malfoy in his camera now.

"Hey Danny" Draco said, the casual greeting forced. "Draco" he answered. "What's this about" Draco asked.

"Oh I was just getting some scenic pictures for the paper." He said. Oh there were defiantly some scenes in those pictures Ginny thought.

Angry scenes, and angry faces. She could just imagine the headline that would top them. Draco must of too cause he yanked the camera in a angry huff.

"I want those pictures," he said. Checking the camera over Draco hit a button and handed the camera back to Danny. "There, all deleted" he smirked.

"Danny paled, "What am I suppose to tell my boss?" he cried.

"Draco shrugged, "Don't know but I'm sure you will come up with something, Ginny, _sweetheart_, are you ready to go home now? Later than planned I know…"

Home? She was ready to head back to the burrow. Did he really want to go on with this? That "sweetheart" of his had sounded so cutting she wanted to check her body for blood.

Draco stepped forward and before she knew it. She was locked into his arms and he was whispering as they walked away.

"I know. You want to high tell it out of here as fast as you can. But do you really want part without divorce papers again?" he asked.

"How much of a failure would that seem to both of us, the second time around?"

Was it true that he'd never told her his plans clearly enough for her to understand either what they were or how much they mattered? He always thought they had good communication between them.

Apparently she didn't agree, however and they should explore that.

They walked into house both still not speaking to one another. Draco took a slow breath as he followed her up the stairs. "Ginny, Did you mean everything you said, back there?" he asked.

She colored at once. She felt ashamed when he asked her the question. She knew it was wrong to attack him with his family. She regretted with every breath in her body.

"No. No, I didn't!" She said turning around taking his hand. Her guilt overrode her anger. The warm contact of her hand sent shivers down his body.

"I never should have said that thing about loving families, Draco. It was unforgivable, really I" she cried.

"But it was true though" he sighed. "Not even that. You did have a loving relationship with your mother, even though she was…"

"So eccentric, and so wrapped up in my father and what he wanted that she hardly had any time for me" he bluntly stated.

"I wish I could have known her better" Ginny sighed. He seemed to shrug off the idea as quickly as she voiced it. "It was for the best that you didn't, even at our best, the Malfoy's were pretty dysfunctional."

"What I meant was, do you really feel I didn't tell you what my ambitions were?"

Ginny gave him a helpless look and said "We talked about jobs, Draco and traveling all over the world."

"You remember that one?" he laughed.

"Of course and I remember the one about ten kids" She smiled. "Yeah, I liked that one." He smiled back. "I still think about that one sometimes."

"Oh you do?" Ginny asked surprised.

"It would have been great to do something like that here" "But that was going to a bit problematic" he said. "I doubt I could have gotten the bank off the ground if I had ten children."

Ginny nodded "You see, Draco? We when kids back then who thought we could rule the world simply cause we were together."

"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" Smiling he left go of her hand. "We had a million plans, and we laughed about most of them after we came up with them. How was I to know, out of all that, which was the thing you really meant to do?"

"I guess the thing I really meant to do was the one thing I didn't think to talk about," he answered. "In case the Malfoy family's favor the dark lord jinx kicked in. My mum used to tell me over and over again how proud I should be to bear the Malfoy name"

He sighed before he went on "But unfortunately in the end I wasn't proud. I despised what my father held so dear. And I doubted people would believe I was different."

"But you did it and look everyone trusted in you after all. In the end you got a great business and you're helping everyone. You have anything you ever wanted." Ginny said.

Not everything he thought to himself.

"Right, exactly. You know, when a parent makes such terrible mistakes, you bend over backwards not to follow in the same footsteps. I'm just glad people took a chance with me." He said.

"I wish I could have seen what you were going through," She whispered. "No. You had seven other people to be wise and perceptive about; you shouldn't have to worry about me too. But I couldn't see that back then."

"There were few things we couldn't see about each other, I guess," she agreed in a careful voice. "Or about ourselves. You were right in what you said at the lake. You didn't marry seven people. I need to think about that." She softly spoke.

Listening to her, Draco repented of the way he yelled at her a while ago. She was doing this for him, the way she always did things for other people, and he should be grateful for that, not making it harder for her then it needed to be.

He shouldn't be making it harder for himself either. He knew that the chemical heat between them wasn't the true barrier they couldn't get past, and he knew it didn't have the power to make everything right.

There was so much more to their relationship than that. She was fully aware of it, and she could re think her willingness to help him out anytime.

And speaking of helping him out, just how many of their complicated interactions were really about cooling gossip? At heart, he knew there was so much more going on here.

It was time he was honest with himself about it and he needed to work out what he wanted, and what was possible. And he needed to do it soon, he knew.

Or his chance would be gone and he doubted it would ever come again.

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	6. Uncovered feelings

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and I hope you continue to do so.**

**Chapter 5- Uncovered feelings**

"Ron, if you've called her three times and spoken to her father, and left two voice messages, then you just simply have to wait until she has a chance to call," Ginny said into the phone as Draco walked into his living room on Thursday night.

Her dark eyes were serious as she listened for a moment and he saw her front teeth scrape across her lower lip. Draco knew what was going on after overhearing just eight seconds of speech.

Luna hadn't called Ron.

Hell he couldn't blame her. He wouldn't call him either he thought to himself. But he really shouldn't be that way. He and Ron might not be best friends but they had come a long way since Hogwarts.

She managed to wave at him and smile even while she kept nodding and listening, making those supportive "mm" noises, then said.

"Ron, wait until you hear what she has to say, and stay calm about it or you will sound needy, okay?"

Draco went into the kitchen and discovered that Ginny cooked. Peering through the oven's glass door he saw a huge pan of Lasagna and his stomach growled at the very thought of piling food on ho his plate.

He decided as he gulped down a glass of water. He'd have a quick shower and then eat. On his way back through the living room and up the stairs, he heard Ginny say.

"How many times did you check on him today? She listened for a moment. "Oh, he did?" She sounded pleased, but then her voice fell again.

"Oh, he said he would go alone"

Apparently that wasn't good news.

"Well, did he go? Did you ask? Please find out Ron and you guys have to stay after Dad till I get back. And have him call me. Him, not you, if he didn't go." She said.

"I don't care what time it is. Just whenever he gets home, I want him to call me. I know you're distracted because Luna hasn't called you but- Yes, I know. I know. Okay. Love you too."

Her voice faded as Draco reached his bedroom. After a five-minute shower, he came down again and asked her.

"Don't they drive you nuts?" He didn't need to specify who he meant.

"Yes" she shrugged and smiled, quirking the corner of her expressive mouth. "But they left me alone all afternoon, which is better than yesterday."

"What did you do? He asked.

"Absolutely nothing. Until I started cooking. I loved every second of it.," she laughed.

"The cooking"? He asked laughing back.

"The nothing. If you didn't allegedly need me to meet you for lunch tomorrow. I might have opted for more of the same." Ginny said.

"More nothing? Get real!" he teased her. "The Ginny I know? Spending four days in a row doing nothing? I bet you haven't done that since you used to lie in your crib and I don't believe you could do another day of it if you tried."

"Just you watch me," she said smiling again and raised her hands behind her head and arched her back. He heard a couple joints crack, which made her smile wider, and he noticed her mouth hadn't done that sucking on a lemon thing in his presence in two days.

She looked so beautiful and graceful when she stretched. And she really needed this break. Couldn't her family see that? Couldn't they be generous enough not to tell her they loved her quiet so much, so sincerely and so needfully?

"You don't have to come to lunch tomorrow if you'd rather rest," he told her. "I understand really! I have been asking you for a lot lately"

"You know I don't mind" Ginny replied.

"Yes, I know you wouldn't mind. But the reasons aren't urgent either. We've been seen by plenty of people since Tuesday."

"Arguing loudly, at one point" she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.

He shrugged "Which is what most married couples do."

She nodded her head at his words "But we didn't use to. Not seriously really. Only that one time before you left."

Now it was his turn to nod. "Maybe if we argued more we would have known more about what each other was thinking."

She shrugged as if she didn't like that idea.

"Have you decided yet how long you're staying?" he asked.

This time, she sighed and made a helpless sound. "No. I'm- I mean- sometimes I think I could do a whole- No."

"No hurry," he answered mildly.

"To decide, or to leave?" she asked.

"Either" he shrugged.

Right now he wasn't pushing her to do either. And he got the uncomfortable feeling that each of them was waiting for something, some defining statement from the other person about the past or the future.

He just didn't know what that statement was.

They stuffed all through the delicious meal she'd cooked, pretending they weren't flaming with their awareness of each other, and he left her with a pile of muggle movies and headed back to the bank for a couple of hours of work after they ate.

He had finished all his work that afternoon but he went back anyway. Because he didn't trust what he might do if he stayed.

It was noon of the following day and Ginny was ready for lunch. Draco was already at the restaurant with some clients and she was on her way to meet up with them.

Today they would be dining with a group of people who had investments with Malfoy Holdings. Ginny was actually looking forward to meeting them and seeing Draco.

She hadn't seen him since Dinner last night. When he left to head back to work and she was already asleep when he returned.

Draco stood up when Ginny arrived at the table. His eyes locked with Ginny's for a moment and he mouthed "Whoa!" He obviously approved of her outfit. A stunning yellow dress casually cut to fit her body just perfect.

Ginny grinned back at him and took her seat just as the waitress came to the table. Lunch went on as planned with Ginny making light conversation with the men and their wives, while Draco talked business.

A couple of times Draco slipped his hand over hers and she felt the way they seem to belong together. The moment didn't last long but it surprised her with its feeling of intimacy and heat all the same.

Draco turned to her "Gin, I'm going to run and grab some papers and I'll be back" He dropped a quick kiss to her mouth and left with a few of the men.

The look on one of the wives chilled a little more now that Draco was gone. "Ginny, right?" she said.

"That's me," Ginny said.

"First I heard a rumor that you and Draco were married, and I guess that has to be true, since you're here. Then I heard a rumor that your marriage is on the rocks. Are you trying for reconciliation, or something?"

The woman's direct question had Ginny grabbing blindly for an answer that fell somewhere between the truth and what she knew Draco would want her to say.

"Reconciliation?" she echoed finally. "There's no need for that. You shouldn't listen to rumors, you should judge for yourself."

The woman raised her brow "That sounds like a challenge, to me."

Ginny smiled faintly "It wasn't meant to be." She said. But Ginny knew it was too late. She set herself up to be judged for the rest of lunch. If she hadn't been judged already.

Not something she would look forward to. She'd been looking forward to some quality time with Draco, instead. Looking forward to it far too much, when she thought about it.

Draco had come back, papers in tow and signed. He surveyed the group and saw that sure enough they looked happy. The only person who didn't seem to be happy was Ginny, which was a pity, because she was the only one whose state of mind Draco cared about most.

She kept busy the past hour with talking and laughing and listening to his client's stories about his past. But whenever Draco caught her at an unguarded moment, she looked tense.

He didn't get a chance to ask her about it until the group broke away in closed conversations.

"What's the problem Gin?" He asked leaning closer to her.

"Oh, does it show?" she said sighing at him.

"That you're tense, yes. Were you hoping it didn't?" he asked concerned.

Ginny shrugged "I don't mind you picking up on it, but if that woman over there has intercepted the signals, she's probably taking notes."

"Notes?" he said clearly confused.

"Just remembering Danny and the camera from the other day, hoping she's not a friend of Rita Skeeter's." She whispered.

"You think it's possible?" he looked over at the woman in question.

"Well she asked me a couple of questions and I got the impression she was waiting to see what I might dish out in reply."

"You know I just had the feeling she was used to asking invasive questions." She finished.

"And you think Rita Skeeter's hoping for a nice kicker to her article, so she sent a spy?" he drawled.

"That or she likes you." Ginny shrugged.

"Oh, I see and you want to keep me for yourself" he grinned.

"Yeah, smile when you say that, so I don't slap you for being serious." She smiled at him to show she wasn't serious, either.

"You _want_ me to act as if I want to keep you for myself, remember? It's the whole reason I'm here."

"But" he said. "Your not comfortable lying about it."

"No I'm not. But you knew that"

"Well you just leave her to me" Draco said. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and take a few minutes and breath. I hate seeing you like this."

Ginny sighed, "That's sounds like a good idea. I could use a few minutes to collect myself."

The woman watched as Ginny stood up and left the table, then her gaze fixed itself on Draco and stayed there. He smiled and she smiled back.

She slowly angled her chair so she was closer to him "So tell me the real story Mr. Malfoy" she said sweetly.

"The real story?" he said reaching for his goblet.

"That's right the real story about you and Ginny" she said.

And suddenly he couldn't think of any reason not to tell her, so he did, as briefly as possible. "We got married a long time ago and had a few problems, that's why she wasn't around when your friend wrote her article."

Yep, her eyes widened and she let out a sharp breath. Ginny was right, she was spying on them. "My friend?" she said half- heartily. She knew her cover was blown so she didn't try that hard.

"And we've discovered we want to try and work things out," he continued. "So I would really appreciate it if you would tell Rita, and the entire staff of Witch Weekly if you must, to please respect our privacy and leave us alone."

"But as the first Bachelor of the Year…" she began.

"No, you're not getting it, Listen I want this to stop." Draco said firmly cutting her off.

She didn't say anything for a moment then nodded. "Right I'll pass it on."

The woman moved her chair back and left him alone after that. He had the rest of the lunch to think about what he said. That he and Ginny found they wanted to work things out.

Just a neat sound bite, put together for public consumption?

No, shoot…damn it…it was true.

True for him, anyhow, if not for Ginny. She didn't have the same demons chasing her as he did. She was stubborn, but he doubted she was as stubborn as he was.

His childhood felt like one long series of defeats. He didn't want to add divorce to the pile. No matter how crazy it looked on paper, no matter what his lawyer might say to him on the subject, no matter that he had no strategies in place for convincing Ginny to see things the way he did, he knew he just wasn't ready, yet, to let his marriage go.

Lunch was over and the clients had all gone. Draco and Ginny were the last ones to leave. "I have calls to make and accounts to go over, so it may be another three, four hours tops till I get home. But I can accompany you to the house first if you want." Draco said as they left the restaurant.

"Is there anything I can do to help you? Speed things up a bit?" she asked.

"No I got it covered. Becky's there and besides you would be bored." He told her.

Ginny shrugged, "I thought I'd ask. I cooked last night so I guess we're eating out tonight right?"

She couldn't quite keep the reluctance out of her voice. She really didn't relish the idea of another evening of pretence pretending to other people that she cared for Draco while pretending to him and herself she didn't.

What was the truth, beneath all of that? What really counted for something?

"What would be the purpose of that?" he asked not really thinking about their act.

She shrugged and managed to smile "Eating in public, being seen, acting married." She said.

"You know what?" he said, after a moment. "Let's not. Last night was nice"

"Okay then" she grinned "I'll cook again for us"

He waved his finger at her. "Tempting, but no. I'll do the cooking." He said. "And while I'm at it how about I notified Witch Weekly and they can do a interview right from the house."

"Or we could not. We could keep it private." She warned.

He brushed his fingers lightly across her cheek and down to her shoulder, making her melt. "I like that plan better."

Ginny was waiting for him when he walked in at seven. He was digging around in the fridge for some steak while Ginny cut some onions. She had tears streaming down her face from the fumes when the phone rang.

"Hi Ginny…" Ron's voice, no surprise there. "Gin, I've been calling and calling but you haven't picked up all day," Ron said sounding annoyed.

"I was in town this afternoon and then I took a nap. Sorry" Ginny snapped at him. "How're things? What's up?" Ginny asked, making her questions sound cheerful in the hope the answers were the same.

The strategy didn't work.

"Well, Luna called me but she sounded weird, Ginny" Ron said.

"Okay" Ginny said. "Did you ask her about it?"

Ron sighed into the phone "Of course I did, even asked Harry to talk to Hermione about it. Maybe Luna has said something to her. But they keep insisting everything is fine. She's just busy with work."

"She said I'm just acting paranoid. Am I a paranoid person Ginny?" he asked.

"Well, normally no, I wouldn't have said…" Ginny began.

"Exactly! You're so right, you see! I'm not. So this isn't me it's Luna. What if she's dating someone else? She could very well be with him now. I have been working long hours." Ron cried.

"Maybe I should go to her house and demand she tell me what's going on." He finished.

"Okay, Ron, now you're sounding paranoid," Ginny said gently.

The kitchen door opened she saw Draco looking at her across the room. He frowned and looked startled, really concerned, actually and she didn't understand why until he put his finger to his cheek and made a questioning gesture.

Tears? Crying?

She shook her head, smiled and mouthed, "Onions" and he nodded and laughed, and it was the kind of small nice moment that they'd had a few times today.

It reminded her of everything she'd lost when he left eight years ago and she recovered her patience with her brother. Luna would destroy Ron if she left him.

They'd only been dating for a bit which wasn't the same as four years of marriage true, but Ginny knew that the heart didn't know dates and time when it was breaking.

"So when you coming home?" Ron asked.

"Coming home? Um, I'm not sure yet, because…"

Draco was still watching and listening. He stepped closer. "Tell him you're not," he told her.

"Hang on a second, Ron." She put her hand over the phone. "Excuse Me," she said to Draco.

"Just tell him you're not coming home." His words seemed intense and his whole body looked tight all of a sudden.

"But that's not true…" she started to explain. And he took a couple more impatient paces.

"Does it matter if it isn't true? He demanded. "How about if it was true? He is a grown man, they all are Ginny. No one is saying to stop caring. But is it good for them to know you'll come running to make everything better the moment they call with a problem?"

"Draco I can't do…" she looked horrified by the idea.

" I don't think it is good for him, or Fred and George and Percy, or for your dad. Let them know you need a vacation. Which you do. And that you're going to be here for the next six weeks. Just try it, because I want to see the effect it has, even if you don't." Draco sighed.

Ginny carefully took her hand off the mouthpiece and sat down. "Ron? At this stage, I'm thinking I may…"

"You have to let me know, Ginny" Ron cut in wailing. "You can't keep it open – ended. It's not fair of you to do that, when it affects our plans."

Ginny gasped beginning to feel angry. "And what plans does it affect?" she huffed.

"Oh, come on, you know what I mean. Dad and…" Ron sighed.

Draco was still watching her. And Ginny knew he was even though she wasn't looking at him. And even though he was silent. The back of her neck tingled and she hated this all too familiar feeling of being stuck in between her husband's blunt attitude toward her family.

And the demands of her brother's and father which, which sometimes.

"No, Ron," she heard herself say. "I'm not committing myself to a date right now."

"Ginny Weasley! Ron squeaked, indignant and upset.

Draco growled upon being so close to hear his brother in law's comment of her name. They never would call her what she really was. A Malfoy.

"You'll just have to accept I'm staying longer." He heard Ginny tell Ron and sighed with relief.

She said a firm goodbye and put down the phone and stood up then turned to meet the look, with his eyebrows raised, that she knew Draco would throw at her.

Yep there it was, eyebrows and everything. He started to clap at the same time, and that was too much.

"Stop" she told him. "There's no need for you to celebrate this as a personal victory."

Draco shrugged. "Okay I'll leave the celebrating to you then." He said.

"Did it ever occur to you that it might be hard for me to leave them when they need me?" she asked.

He nodded his head in understanding. "I do, but did it ever occur to you that they will turn you into one of those spinster aunts, who never got to have her own life because everyone, including herself."

He looked at her intensely.

"Just assumed she'd go on looking after aging relatives and baby sitting nieces and nephews and knitting shawls and socks until she dropped in her tracks?" He finished.

"That's not how I see myself." She drawled.

"That's how they could end up seeing you. Oh, Ginny will do it, she wont mind." He continued.

"No, that's not how it is." She shook her head. "Draco"

He moved closer and reached out and cradled her in his arms. "And it gets to me, because if that does happen, no matter how much you love them, you'll be angry and bitter and resentful and it will start to show on your beautiful face, and…"

"Sucking on a lemon?" she pressed her finger to her lips.

"Yes, and I would hate for it to get stuck that way. Not a mouth I've gotten so lost in, all the times we've kissed." He said.

Their lips met the moment he stopped talking. Ginny closed her eyes, swept away in seconds. Her body belonged to Draco in a way she couldn't imagine it belonging to any other man's.

She cupped his face in her hands, staking her claim on every inch of his skin, loving the slight roughened texture of his jaw and the feel of his soft neck.

He dipped his head lower and tightened his arms around her, cramping her breath, and she felt a surge of emotion at the knowledge that he was as overwhelmed by this as she was.

His physical strength didn't give him any protection at all against the demands of his senses. For minutes they couldn't stop, although Ginny distantly knew they had to.

But it was so good. His taste and his touch and the way he was lost in this as she was. Her body throbbed and grew heavy. She could have melted on the floor.

Finally, however, she summoned some strength and focus. She dragged her mouth away from his kiss and buried her face in the curve between his neck and shoulder, needing some breathing room so she could attempt to understand the tangled strands on her own feelings.

How could she want and need him like this when they marriage they'd both believed in had failed badly? Draco didn't try to kiss her again, just held her.

Held her so that she could lay her head on his chest, where she felt the hard push and pull of his breathing and heard the thud of his heart.

They both stood very still.

"I don't want love to make me bitter," she finally said. "Not any kind of love. You're right. Love shouldn't do that. But I'm afraid about where this is taking us, Draco. And I think that you have far more power to fill me with regrets than my family does."

He said nothing for almost a minute, and her ears seemed to ring with the silence. "I don't have an answer for that." She heard him say at last. "I don't know what I can tell you. How can I promise that you wont regret the time you're spending here, or the new things we're finding out?"

"You can't," she agreed.

"So what do we do now?" he asked her.

"Now? What do we do right now? Oh, Draco! I think we just…" She pulled back and spread her hands. "Cook."

He hissed the breath out between his teeth. "Yeah, you're right, I guess we do."

**Here it is. Hope you like it and please review good or bad.**

**Thanks to: Holy Pancake, Amanda Mancini, xojulesxo, louey 31, plzkthx 101, for your wonderful reviews last chapter.**


	7. Don't fight it

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. You guys are awesome. Hope you like the next chapter to. **

**Chapter 6- Don't fight it**

Since Draco insisted he do the cooking Ginny just sat at the table staring shamelessly, learning exactly the way every muscle in his body curved.

Learning the angles in every limb as id she'd have to pass a newt test on him when she got home. Oh, but she didn't want to think about home, because Draco wouldn't be there.

"I think they're about done," he said a few minutes later.

"Darn" she said getting up. "I should have brought everything to the table."

Draco smiled warmly. "Hey no worry, we'll both do it, and it won't take that long."

They moved to and fro with salads, plates, silverware and steak sauce. Draco waved his wand and music filled the dining room along with a dozen soft candles.

The golden light they gave off was magical and it swept Ginny away to a world where her marriage was wonderful and there was no pretending.

Their eyes kept meeting across the table. Who knew that just one simple, shared gaze could smoke so strongly and tangle so thickly and communicate such depth and such desire?

Draco stretched out his legs and they brushed against Ginny's bare calves and she didn't try to move away. Instead, she took his hand and felt the answering pressure he gave.

He brushed his thumb across her knuckles, his touch as gentle as his mouth would have been. Every time he put his goblet to his lips she remembered the taste of his kiss, and she knew he could see the memory glowing in her eyes.

They pretended to talk, but for most of the meal they only pretended that what they said was important.

"Steak came out good" Draco said.

"Oh yeah!" Ginny replied "So tender. And this steak sauce, it's delicious"

"You sure did manage to make a life for yourself here Draco" she said softly.

"I had to. I've always known there was nothing to fall back on but this life I'd made for myself. No-one to pick up the slack, cover any debts, bail me out of trouble." He said.

Well he'd had her to do some of that, for a while, Ginny thought. For more than four years, in fact. She would have happily met any need he expressed.

She didn't say it aloud, and as they sipped the last of their drinks in silence for a few minutes, she thought about it. Draco obviously never consider her as someone he could fall back on or count on in that way.

And apparently he had no idea that she would mind about that, that she might be hurt by it, that being needed and counted on was as important to her as being loved.

No correction, it was an integral part of being loved. It was an integral ingredient in trust. You had to trust the people whom you needed in your life.

Her heart twisted painfully.

Draco had loved her but he'd never needed her, which meant that at some fundamental, unconscious level he hadn't trusted her, so she'd let him go.

Eight years later, the only sign that he might have changed had come in the form of those four short words he'd spoken three and a half days ago. "I'm asking for help."

Those words had been enough to make her commit to staying for a few days, even a couple of weeks. Were they enough to let her follow her heart tonight?

She knew where it wanted to lead her, and she knew where Draco himself wanted to go. Every nerve in her body begged for it.

For him, his body, his lovemaking.

"Thinking?" he asked softly. "It looks too much like hard work for you, right now."

"It's- um…" she couldn't find an answer. He'd stretched his hand across the table again, and this time he wasn't letting go after one brief caress.

"Not your family, I hope." His fingers tangled with hers and made patterns of delicate sensation on the fine inner skin of her wrist.

"No, not them," she managed to say.

"Good. Shall I tell you what I hope you're thinking about?" he grinned.

"No. Uh…don't," she said sounding quite nervous.

"Guess it's pretty obvious, huh?" his eyes seemed to dance with laughter.

Yes.

"Uh…" she repeated helplessly. But he wasn't going to let her get away with that non-answer.

"It's obvious, Gin," he said. Her gaze was totally trapped in his now. "And it's obvious what you want to about it, too so let's not pretend."

"That's one thing I can say about our marriage. One thing I'm proud of, still. We never pretended or lied to each other, and I won't start now. I want you. In my bed. Now, and all night long. And you want it too."

He sat up and leaned closer. Their arms pressed together. He took her other hand as well, and now his face was only six inches from hers.

"You want it," he repeated. "And you know that's only the beginning."

Ginny gulped as she tried to smile. "Beginnings are easy." She said.

Nodding he raised his brow. "Beginnings are necessary." He told her.

"What comes next?" she whispered.

Draco shrugged "How can we know that, before we've taken the first step? I'm not saying its risk free."

"But you're saying there's no gain without the risk?" she replied.

"Yes" he agreed, "Can you argue that? If you're going to, then I need you to argue it now. Ginny, not in ten minutes or half an hour, when we're in my bed. By then, it will be too late."

Argue it now? How could she argue anything now, when his eyes shone into hers like that? When her own body was such a traitor to caution and good sense?

When eight years ago suddenly felt like yesterday, and heaven help her, she was still his wife?

"Draco" she breathed. "If I should argue…I've forgotten why. And if you know why, you're not going to remind me are you?"

"Have I ever struck you as that much of a saint?" he growled.

"No you're all man. The man I want." She hardly knew what she was saying. She closed her eyes and felt his breath on her cheek and then his lips brushing her mouth.

Teasing her, letting her know just how more he wanted.

"Come on," he said roughly. "This isn't enough, I can't hold you."

She was through with fighting this and willingly stood up. The dining room was in darkness but the light from the candles gave plenty of light to see by.

Ginny wanted to see. Impatient, she slid her hands under his shirt and raised it up till he took over and pulled the unwanted item over his head and tossed it to the floor.

Then she studied his chest. Touched and looked, stroking her fingers down from his broad shoulders and across the hard, squared bulge of his pecks. He was a little more built then he was eight years ago, but it still felt the same.

She loved that. She wanted him to know just how soft and different she was, and instinctively reached for him. He cupped her breast and she moaned.

"Can I"? He whispered.

"Yes, please" she closed her eyes and felt his hands brush across her body again. Taking off her shirt he gasped.

"God you're beautiful Ginny" his voice seemed to get lost in emotion as she looked at her.

"Don't stop. Admire the architecture…tomorrow" she could hardly get the last word out, she wanted him so badly.

He kissed across her chest as if he couldn't believe they were really his. If she had any words left, she would have told him they're yours Draco. All yours, and nobody else's. They always have been.

He'd seen her like this before, naked and wanting and yet it felt so special and new. How much had her body changed? Her hips and breast were all a little rounder and fuller now. Did he…?

Yes. He liked it that way. He couldn't keep his hands off her. They almost fought each other, because he was trying to hold her while she grabbed at the zipper of his pants that got in her way.

She moved her hips against him, hearing his ragged breathing as a reward. Without a word he quickly carried her off to his bedroom.

He wanted her right then and there but he didn't want to have her in the kitchen. It had been eight long years since he tasted his wife and nothing but a bed would do.

They slid to the bed, not taking time to remove the blanket. Time moved slow as they reached for each other again, and in both of them impatience battled with the pleasure of each moment.

They could let this take all night, or they could surge to fulfillment within minutes. It wouldn't matter which. Lying on their sides, they touched and explored, remembering, rediscovering, and making it new.

Draco's mouth was everywhere, pushing Ginny to the brink and leaving her there. Slowly he entered her. Yes. This. She'd forgotten.

Oh, but she remembered now. The physical fullness of her husband deep inside her, feeling him push closer then pull back so he could push closer again, over and over.

Ginny clung to him, close to exploding and she spilled into heaven and felt him meet her half way as he surged into her.

They both came slowly back to earth without needing to speak a word. The phone in Draco's living room began to ring three minutes later.

"Leave it" Draco growled.

He felt Ginny's body stiffen at the first sound. Now, he had to hold her back or she would have raced to phone as if expecting life or death news.

Finally she slumped beside him in the bed, her hot, naked body delicious against him. He felt a fresh stirring of need over come him.

He'd been on the wrong side of thirty for a couple of years, but with Ginny next to him like this he felt he was still in his teens.

"I'm sorry, Habit," she said. "At home, I …you're right though, it's probably not anyone either of us want to talk to."

But she still hadn't relaxed.

The phone kept ringing. After four long rings, insistent peals, his machine picked up and they both lay there listening and hoping for a hang-up.

Didn't happen.

"Ginny" barked Fred's voice. "If you're there pick up, now."

"No you don't" Draco told her, still pinning her to the bed. "This is why I have a answering machine Gin"

"But he sounds…" she began.

Draco felt her tense up again and start to slide away, and the fight went out of him. The peace too if that wasn't a contradiction. Such at peace a minute ago.

But now he felt empty and totally unsurprised. He let her go, his hands trailing clumsily across her skin.

"Are you there Gin?" Fred repeated a little louder. "I really need you to pick up Ron is being a arse. He says Luna is cheating on him. Damn near destroyed the house and I don't know how to handle it."

"You have to calm him down, like the second you get this message call me."

Ginny moved fast, he heard her moments later, "Fred? Is that why Luna has been acting strange? Oh, poor Ron! Is he there? Can I speak to him?"

She must have made it to the phone in time. I should have tripped her up, Draco thought, or locked her in. Held her back by her long beautiful hair, even.

He felt just about that caveman, right now.

Suppressing the cave man urges, he rolled stiffly out of bed. He climbed into his pants and grabbed a shirt from the floor but didn't put it on. Instead, when he reached Ginny at the phone, sitting hunched in a chair with her bare breast pressed against her knees, he bunched it up and slipped it over her head.

The shirt had lost his body heat but it still had his scent and he wanted that. He wanted it surrounding her, reminding her, making its claim on her, if she would take any notice.

Yeah right. What chance was there of that?

Feeling the shirt around her neck, she gave him only the tiniest nod of thanks. He didn't know who was on the other end. Still Fred? Or was it Ron by this time.

Didn't matter. She frowned and went, "Uh huh," and did all her usual caring – listening-giving stuff. She put her free arm through the shirt and swapped hands with the phone and pushed her other arm through.

The body of the shirt fell down around her covering her whole body. But even like that she looked so achingly sexy, her long legs leading Draco's gaze and his imagination higher to all the lush secrets that lay beyond the stretchy white hem.

Draco wanted to snatch the phone out of her hand and yell down the line. Deal with it Weasley. You're a grown up, and so are your brothers. Ginny dealt with your mother's death as well as taking care of your father and all of you.

She loves to death, and you walk on that all the time, and it's not fair.

But there was no point in saying it, either in anger or with understanding. He went back to his room, found a clean shirt and shut himself in his office, not wanting to hear another word of the call.

Well there is chapter 6. Sorry it is short but I will make it up to you all next chapter. I promise. Thanks to all who reviewed and I hope you will continue to do so.

Bra4goten


	8. Making a hard choice

**Chapter 7 – making a hard choice**

It took Ginny twenty minutes to get off the phone. She couldn't get a clear answer from Fred. Ron was just a "Mess" plain and simple, and Ginny had to come home. Like now.

Tomorrow at the latest leaving without a divorce if she had to.

"So can I speak to him?" she finally asked.

"If he wants to talk but I'm not sure even you can help him over the phone Gin" Fred sighed.

"Well try him, I want to know what really happened." Ginny said.

After five minutes of Fred yelling in the background and some odd thumping noises Ron finally picked up. The first thing Ginny heard was a long, shuddery breath.

"Hey" she said.

"Hey, yourself" He said and Ginny's heart broke at the sound of hurt in his voice.

"Ron tell me what happened," she said brushing the tears that started to form.

"Well I called her again and she was busy, so I went to her house." He sighed.

Ginny gasped "Ron you didn't. Did you tell her you were coming?"

A few seconds of silence went by before he answered her "No… but I didn't want to give her a chance to cover her tracks."

"Cover her tracks? Ronald Weasley you have to stop this nonsense. Just because Hermione chose Harry over you, doesn't mean they all will hurt you." She said.

"This has nothing to do with Mione sis. This is about Luna. She was my heart gin. My heart" he cried.

"Was that fair? Kind of condemning her without a trail, don't you think?" she asked.

"Did you tell Draco you were going to see him? He barked. Two points for Ron.

"That was different. I wasn't planning to accuse him of anything, I was just…" she stopped.

Asking for a divorce. Am I still doing that? She wondered.

"Okay it's not relevant, anyhow," Ron cut in on Ginny's silence. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it. We're talking about Luna. Who had a man in her flat when I arrived."

"Fixing her plumbing? Having a meeting? Her cousin?" she asked.

"Oh, come on Ginny! I knew it," he yelled.

"Hon, did you ask?" she said dismissing his angry tone.

"Okay, one I heard laughing before I even rung the bell. Two, there was no one else in the flat. Three she looked shocked and a little guilty. Four the man left without speaking to me beyond one little, tiny, insincere hi" he explained.

"And what did Luna say?" Ginny asked.

"That she didn't know what my problem was, lately. Can you believe that? He scoffed. "And I told her I'm not the one with the problem. And then she said fine neither was she, so obviously our feelings were mutual and we'd both be better off not seeing each other anymore."

Which is where the relationship stood right now, apparently, although Ron took a few more minutes to outline this fact, and of course he didn't agree with not seeing Luna.

He was close to tears by the time he finished talking, taking another piece of Ginny's tortured heart with every sniff he gave to keep from crying.

And whether Luna really cheated on Ron, or his insecurities had driven her away, the bottom line stayed the same. She left him and he was hurting and he wanted his sister.

Big question… Would his sister go?

"I'll call you in the morning, okay Ron?" Ginny told him. "Let's sleep on it and see how everything looks then."

"How is it going to look any different?" Ron answered, and it took another few minutes of listening and understanding before she could put down the phone.

She sat there fiddling with the hem of Draco's shirt. It felt soft, like his arms, and it was enough to keep her warm, the way his body would have done.

It made her think of him, but it wasn't him, and she wished it were.

He'd disappeared into his study and the door stood firmly closed. Light seeped from underneath it along with the faint sound of music. He might as well hung up a do not disturb sign on the door.

Ginny wasn't stupid, and she knew him pretty well. He heard Fred's voice and part of her own end of the conversation with Ron.

He knew the decision she had to make, and he was telling her loud and clear, "Make it on your own".

Her stomach felt heavy and she was torn. She didn't want to let Ron down, and yet she knew Draco would consider that she was simply repeating the same old pattern.

The same old destructive pattern that was going to turn her into a spinster aunt not too many years from now, according to him.

They'd had a long day and she was tired, her emotions were ragged and her mind filled with too many thoughts. Not the best state for making decisions of nay kind.

Not going back home, and not about how she felt now that she'd let herself and Draco renew the deepest intimacy of their marriage.

Sighing she passed by his office heading to her room when she felt movement behind her and Draco was there.

"So, are you heading back tomorrow?" his matter of fact tone caught her by surprise. She turned to face him, not sure how much of his voice showed his level of anger.

"I'm not going to decide until the morning." She answered.

"No?" his eyebrow rose in mock surprise. "I half expected to find you packing your bags ready to leave tonight."

"Credit me with some common sense Draco." She spoke shortly, trying to snatch back a small amount of pride, after betraying herself to him so completely.

"I'm sure you will do whatever it is you need to do once you have a good sleep. Your probably tired and that isn't good for any decision making mind." He said.

"Um, yes, okay. That makes sense." She said.

"Well I'm heading into the bank around six-thirty tomorrow," Draco said. "So I can wake you as early as six if you want to get a good start."

"The clock in my room has an alarm, doesn't it? I don't need you to wake me." She whispered.

"Whatever works for you. See you in the morning." He paused, and then shrugged. "Or not."

"Draco, I'm not just going to sneak out without letting you know!" she gasped in disbelief by his comment.

"And I'm just letting _you_ know that it's your decision. No pressure." He returned.

"But plenty of unstated opinion." She huffed out folding her arms.

His eyes narrowed at he looked at her. "My opinion doesn't have to count. _Doesn't_ count, in fact, does it? On this issue, it never has."

Ginny looked horrified. "That's not!"

Fair? True?

But he already left. So even if she chosen a final word, and had spoken it to his retreating back as he strode along the hallway, she would have had to almost yell it in order for him to hear.

She slept the night wrapped in his shirt with the smell of him. She didn't sleep well, and woke at six with no clear decision to make.

Draco heard Ginny moving around upstairs when he was already in the kitchen sipping his coffee at ten after six. Since she was up this early, he drew the obvious conclusion, she was going back.

And he was astonished actually at how much it ripped at his gut, when he'd been expecting exactly this, which meant he should have been prepared.

Damn his sense of honor and pride, last night. He wanted to yell at her. Tell her she had to stay. But he wanted it to be her decision not his.

Damn fairness and principles and this stubborn belief of his that if he blackmailed her or confused her into choosing him over her family, then they victory wouldn't mean anything.

He should have done it anyhow, because he didn't want to lose her.

Not again.

Not when he knew down to the numbness in his fingertips and the lump of his stomach just how much it had hurt last time, and that it wouldn't be any different the second time around.

In fact, it would probably be worse.

He was leaning on the counter when she appeared in the kitchen. "I can make you some breakfast. No need to leave on a empty stomach." He offered.

"I haven't decided yet if I'm going…" she sighed running her fingers through her hair.

"Okay then" he said evenly, as if the sudden wash of complicated, breath-bated relief in his body hadn't happened. "In that case, no need to make a decision on an empty stomach."

"No. But thanks anyway." She said hugging herself.

"Are you going to wait until you hear from one of your brother's again?" he asked. "Is that what's holding up the process?"

She didn't answer him only stared at him. "Talk to me about it Gin," he prompted.

"I guess it's about needs," she answered slowly, pausing after the last word. "I'm trying to work out what's best for Ron. If he needs me to go back or you said if it would be better for him, in the long run, if I stayed here as planned."

"I mean, my heading back home isn't going to get Luna back for him. It's just a question of…"

"Needs" he said.

"Yes" She looked up at him through her lashes, with a caution, hopeful, questioning look on her face that he didn't understand, and that maybe she didn't as well.

"Some people do have them, Draco. You know that." She sighed.

"You have them," he answered quickly. "And you ignore them, which is why everyone else ignores them too."

Sighing she moved to the fridge. "I think we've had this talk before"

Now it was his turn to sigh. "Yeah. We have."

"I'm going to call Ron" Ginny finally said. "But it's too early now. He won't be up."

Draco smirked. "Then why are you up?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep. If you leave your dishes. I'll clean up for you. I know you wanted to leave early today." She said grabbing his bowl."

He leaned back "Planning on saying goodbye before I go?"

"Don't say it like that, Draco as if it's a challenge." She spat.

"Well it is a challenge so…" he began but she cut him off.

"No" she said shortly. "I'm not planning on saying goodbye."

Draco didn't know if that was good news or bad news and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask, when the temperature in the room seemed to be dropping by the second.

He left the house five minutes later.

Ginny listened to him leave and knew she didn't need to wait until she talked to Ron before she made a choice. This wasn't about Ron's needs or her own.

It was about Draco. Just a few minutes ago she gave him the chance to tell her he needed her to stay. Needed her…wouldn't be whole without her.

Like she wouldn't be whole without him. Apparently he didn't see that and it hurt. She went up to her room to pack, and there was his shirt still draped across her bed.

She reached for it and buried her face in it and it was almost like burying her face against Draco's body. It still smelled like him, and her. Like their whole history together, in one long breathe.

Ginny felt this aching need to lay it in her suitcase on top of the rest of her clothes and take it home with her so she could- oh, lord! - _Sleep_ with it, or something.

No. She thought. Don't do this to yourself.

She packed her things, left Draco a note which took her forever to write even though it didn't say much. She called home but nobody answered.

She didn't leave a message even though it would have been easy to say "I'm on my way" and she didn't call Ron's cell incase he was at work and it left him yelling in the middle of the ministry, so then half of the people would know by lunchtime that Luna dumped him.

She was heading home and as she felt she hoped she would be okay in the future. But how long would that take? She wondered.

So. Had Ginny gone back to the burrow, or hadn't she?

The question colored the first part of his morning in such a way that he couldn't concentrate and completely wasted his early morning start in the little office at the bank.

At eight thirty he gave up and called the house, hanging on his hope of hearing her pick up at the other end. She didn't.

He got his own message on the machine and drew the obvious conclusion. Still, he said her name "Ginny?" then waited an embarrassingly long time.

He would most likely hear his own breathing later when he played it back. Juts incase she might grab the phone after all.

Shoot!

Why was he doing this to himself? Hadn't he learned long ago that it wasn't safe to count on anyone but himself? Yeah all very nice in theory.

When Ginny had come into his life at the start of the war, she'd blown the idea right out of the water within a few months of their talking.

His only pathetic hope had always been that if he didn't admit to how much he ached for her, how much more he felt himself when they were together than when they were apart.

Then it might pass unnoticed by anyone, leaving him safe. Confrontation time. He couldn't pretend to himself any more. He'd noticed. He wasn't safe. He was vulnerable. And he wouldn't have to pretend to Ginny about any of this, anymore, if she'd been here.

Only she wasn't. She'd gone. Back to square one for both of them.

He3 was so angry and so powerless to do anything about it, he felt as if his insides had turned to glass. Bachelor of the Year, huh? Hell, if only it was true! If only he he'd pushed through their divorce years ago, so that she never had to come here!

If he'd hadn't been so pigheaded about it, he could have spared himself this second raging fever of loss and pain and failure.

He barely heard the phone ringing and only snatched it up after several rings. It was Becky, who never phoned. She only yelled down the hall.

"Draco, I have a Rita Skeeter here at the front. Are you available?" Becky asked.

Sighing between gritted teeth, he answered, "Sure show her in" because his current emotional state didn't seem like a good enough reason for saying no.

Rita was here to say goodbye, it turned out. It seemed like way more than four days since she'd shown up and let him know she was back in town.

"Will there be a second article?" he asked her.

"On further consideration, Mr. Malfoy, no there won't" she said. "My editor doesn't feel that there's been enough sustained interest in the story. I'm sorry if that's a disappointment"

He laughed "Trust me, it's not! I'm not hungry for my fifteen minutes of fame."

"No. Okay" Rita smirked.

"But thanks for all the work you put in, and for the…uh…effort you made to bring the issue of helping people to public attention." Draco said.

"You're welcome." She stood, as polite as an etiquette book, just the way he had been. "Please give my best regards to your wife."

And that was it.

Draco was done with being the Bachelor of the Year. Now he just had to get himself through the divorce of the century. Which ought not to be so hard for a man who'd built a company like Malfoy Holdings almost from scratch in just eight years, right?

He went walking down the hallway and heard Becky pouring water into the coffee maker, and came in to order the biggest mug in their collection.

Then he told her, "I'm going to pull out every account and go through it one by one today Becky," as if this was brilliant move on his part.

Becky just finished giving him a very confused, are-you-sure-you're-feeling-quite-well-today-boss look when the door opened ringing the bell and Ginny walked in.

Draco's head felt like it was going to explode.

"What are you trying to do to me?" he yelled at her. "I called home and you obviously weren't there. I thought it was over. Again. I thought…"

"That I left" she finished for him. "Yes, I had"

"Unh!" He didn't like being right on the issue. It felt like a punch in the gut.

"But then I came back," Ginny told her husband simply.

**There it is people the next installment. Hope you liked it and please review. Can't wait to hear what you think. Chapter 8 out soon.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed. Writrfreak15, Fredsgurl, Louey31, beckysue2, plzkthx101, BeckiSoup, Angelique Collins, Morwenna the Magnificant, Swimchick1614, Madame S Butterfly, Not so sour Lemons.**

**Bra4goten**


	9. Cut to the chase

**Chapter 8- Cut to the chase**

She met Draco's flaming stare head on, with a flaming stare of her own. He looked angry, but there was something else in his eyes also, the same frozen pain that she felt herself.

How could their feelings for each other possibly be this complicated?

"I turned back around halfway," she said. "I needed to say goodbye to you face to face…and I was too angry to do it this morning."

"_You_ were too angry!" he spat.

Becky chose that moment to slip pass them, pausing for shortest possible time on the way. "Going to break," she muttered.

"Back in an hour, okay?" then she added quickly "Draco don't forget you have a office down the hall, if you, like need, oh, somewhere to, you know, like, in private."

"Right" Draco said.

Becky left and Ginny took a deep shaky breath. She was close to tears, and scared by the power of her own anger. You could only feel this angry toward someone you loved.

"All you had to say this morning was that you needed me Draco," she said. "I threw it out there. And you didn't say it. You've never said it."

Her throat felt tight and her voice sounded strange. "That's why I could never consider that our marriage was just about the two of us. Because never in our whole marriage have you ever said it, or shown it, or…"

He froze. "Hell Ginny! Doesn't it go without saying that I need you? Isn't it obvious?"

"No, Draco it's not. It's not obvious at all. You want me…" she cut off remembering the way he made love to her last night and what it did to her.

Oh but she had to be stronger than this.

"I know you want me," she tried again.

"No" Draco suddenly said. "Okay stop. Don't say it now. Hell yes, I do want you, but if there's…Becky was right. Let's get out of here. Do this properly. Give our marriage, or our divorce, whichever it is, the space it deserves. Some of the other employees will be here any minute."

He headed toward his private office, his impatience brimming over like a cup of coffee poured too full. Standing there she watched himwalk away with a frown.

"Let's go." He said over his shoulder, the way he always did. And she followed. The way she once hadn't.

He continued to walk ahead and didn't say a word. Draco had them inside his office in less than a minute and he didn't waste time in getting back to the crunch point in their confrontation, the second they'd gained the privacy he wanted.

Now that the door closed and locked behind Ginny and nobody knew they were in there.

"I want you," he repeated. He paced around the desk, coming to a restless halt beside the wall, where he leaned his body full of impatient, aggressive angles.

"Was that where we got to?" he asked.

"Somewhere around that point." She said. "Agenda item number two."

He ignored her. "But for some reason you think I don't need you. It can't be because I'm not dependent on you like your dad with his health, and your brother's with their girlfriend problems."

"Don't you dare belittle what's happening to Ron, Draco" Ginny cut in. "Don't we both know that this kind of thing really hurts? Aren't we getting a big fat reminder of that, right now?"

He scoffed with anger. "So it _is_ because I'm not dependent on you? Is that what your saying? It's because I never used to make whiny phone calls to you about losing my shoe, or forgetting to buy food?"

He swore. "Is that what you wanted from me? You can't be serious Gin"

She spread her hands. "Can't I? Okay I'm not serious."

"No. That's not what you mean. Let's try and understand this. Talk to me, don't close up." He came toward her and gripped her upper arms, just short of causing pain.

"I want to hear this." He told her.

And he looked so fierce and so sincere about it that she had to rekindle her hope, and she had to find a starting point.

"Four days ago," she began carefully. "When I came here, you said to me, I'm asking for help."

"Yeah I remember." His grip softened a little and he held her more closely, his gray eyes steady and watchful.

"And the only reason I stayed was because you'd said It." she went on. "Because in the four years of our marriage, and in the time we knew each other before then, you'd never said something like that."

"_Anything_ like that." She continued. "You'd never given the slightest sign or word that I was important to you in that way. That I was _necessary_ to you."

"But, of course you were" His voice rasped, and dropped. "You _are._ Didn't the marriage certificate say it loud and clear? Did you really need the words from me?"

Ginny shook her head. "You wanted me, but it wasn't just that you never said you needed me Draco, you never seemed to show it either."

"You did what you wanted, and I could follow along if I liked. Take it or leave It.," she added.

"Gin" he groaned.

"I guess if I had known that back then, maybe I would have tried harder to find a way through eight years ago. But without that…Still, even now, without that, I can't. It's just impossible." She told him cutting him off.

"It is possible," he answered. "It has to be possible. You're wrong about this. Which has to be my fault as much as yours, I know that. My fault _more_. But it's not too late for me to say it, Gin. Is it? Is it too late?"

"Draco…"

He kissed her hair and her jaw and her neck, and she closed her eyes. She was the one without trust right now, because she didn't trust that they just got through their problems with just a few minutes of anger and some honest words, shut away in his office.

Was this really enough?

"I do trust you" he went on. "I always have. I've trusted you to understand my need for you without me having to say it."

"Or show it?" Her voice cracked again. "You never showed it either."

"Or even show it, I guess. I'm not a man who enjoys feeling vulnerable. Does any man willingly admit to that? I needed you, Ginny. I trusted you. I trusted you with my heart. Is there really anything more you need to hear from me then that?" He pressed.

He ran his hands down her back and buried his face into her neck. It sent chills down her body and not the bad kind. Was there anything else?

Ginny couldn't think straight. Her body throbbed and felt heavy with wanting him. "I… I need to call Ron." She sighed.

Every muscle in Draco's body went stiff and still, and she could almost feel the effort it took for him to speak in a neutral tone when he asked her, "To tell him…?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes narrowed with suspicion and…was that desperation she saw?

"That I love him." She said steadily. "That he can call me any time he needs to talk, and that I'm staying here. With my husband. With you."

Ginny waited not knowing how he would react. With sarcasm? For at least twenty slow heartbeats, he didn't say anything at all as the stiff, suspicious angles to his body slowly softened.

Finally, he pressed his forehead against hers and whispered. "Thank you"

Tears filled her eyes, "You're welcome," she whispered back.

"You don't know how much I …here you go…_needed_, really needed, for you to say that." He said his voice shaky.

"Yes, I do know." She said.

He wrapped her in his strong arms afraid she may change her mind and bolt straight from the office. "We'd have lost our chance if you'd gone back home today." He told her.

Nodding she smiled softly "I know"

"Gin, oh my sweet Ginny…" he sighed with happiness.

Their noses bumped gently as they looked into each other. Their mouths met and melted together. Ginny forgot that Draco could kiss this way.

No demands, no impatience, just a heaven of softness, right in this moment. Their endless kiss was a promise and a vow, binding them together more securely that the marriage certificate they'd both been prepared to throw away just a few days before.

"Draco, what are we going to?" Ginny started to say, but he put a finger on her lips, then kissed her again building onto the fire that was burning inside both of them.

"No details," he said. "Please just let me make love to you,"

"Yes!" she cried. "I want that so much to seal this."

He smirked dangerously. "Then nothing's stopping us"

He meant right here and right now. She gasped when she realized. "Draco, do you really think?"

He already had begun lifting her shirt. "I hope you're not going to tell me this isn't private enough?" he laughed.

Ginny's face turned as red as the hair on her head. "Well…umm…"

"The doors are locked and no one knows we're here. Isn't it comfortable enough?"

"Comfortable?" she could hardly breath. Draco curved his palm gently across her already aching breast. "It's yes. Oh it's perfectly comfortable. That…what you're doing…is very comfortable." She added.

"Mmm, I was hoping for that reaction. Come with me."

"Okay." She let him lead her to the long, black leather couch sitting in his office.

"And here, is it sufficiently opulent?" he asked.

"Can't argue that one Gin," His voice was so low and seductive it was a caress more than a sound.

"This leather is like velvet. Feel"

He took her by the hand and guided her fingertips slowly over the couch, the way she wanted him to guide her fingertips down the velvet length of his arousal.

"You are soooo doing this on purpose, aren't you?" she gasped.

"And you sooo don't want me to stop." He added.

"No, you're right. You're right, I don't," she whimpered. So he didn't.

They fought and laughed and almost sobbed as they took off each other's clothing and flung it aside. Draco lay back on the couch and pulled Ginny down to his chest.

Cradling her loosely and grinning up at her "I can't believe where doing this at your office" she giggled.

"Hey we've made love in crazier places." He laughed. "Do you remember that one time when we…?"

"Yes, at Harry and Hermione's wedding, after dark in the car they planned on leaving in for the honeymoon" she replied blushing.

He roared with laughter at the memory. "Only because attempting it outside was leaving us with way too many bugs"

"There were too many of those I remember," she said. "We even got bitten a few times before we finally spotted the car."

"Didn't even notice until afterward though, did we?" he said. He rolled onto his side and slid down across the couch to nuzzle the soft valley between her breasts.

"No!" she laughed. "Just didn't seem to matter"

His mouth made a line of warm imprints down toward her navel.

"And then we kissed every bug bitten spot" she reminded him. "And they felt better."

"I bet I can still remember where it was you got bit even to this day," he whispered. "Want me to see?"

"Mmm, yes, please…No but, Draco, I didn't get bit _there,_ …" she gasped and he took no notice of her protests at all.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and you guys rock. Hope you like this chapter and I know it's short. But the next one will be longer I promise.

Bra4goten.


	10. Last chance lost

**Chapter 9- Last chance lost**

"Or we have this gorgeous set of matching bracelet, necklace and earrings in rubies and whit gold," said the man in Diagon Alley's best jewelry store. She lifted the lid on a black velvet box to reveal the matched set, lying on a stretch of cream satin.

"That's more like what I'm looking for," Draco said.

"They're beautiful pieces," the woman agreed.

She told him about the man who designed them, where the rubies and gold had come from and how many carats they added up to, then she waited in hushed expectation for Draco's verdict on the quality of what he saw.

But he wasn't thinking about ruby mines or carats at all. He was only thinking of Ginny. How the pale, gleaming gold would look against her creamy skin.

How the glowing rubies would contrast with her dark brown eyes and her red hair. What he would say when he gave them to her, and what she might say or do in return?

Print hot kisses on his mouth. Press her body against him. Cry and smile at the same time. All of the above might be nice. He almost felt like crying himself, and he'd already been smiling for hours.

They made love twice in his office this morning. First the frantic explosion of feeling on the soft leather. Nowhere near enough. They both agreed on that afterward, still breathless.

They took it more lazily the second time around, slowly discovering each other again. The little spot just under her ear that made her gasp when he kissed it.

The perfect meeting point between pleasure and pain that he found when she raked her nails lightly across his back.

It had been almost noon by the time they were both dressed and ready to leave the secret sanctuary of the office.

"I'm going back to your place, Draco and.," she said

"Back home" he'd corrected her.

She'd smiled, and it had lit up her whole face. "Home." She repeated.

"I like the sound of that" he smiled.

"So do I! And I'll call Ron when I get there. He needs to know what's going on. Is it okay if I tell him they can come here anytime they want?"

"Of course. Lord Gin, you don't need to ask about something like that! I know how much you care about what's going on with them right now." He told her.

"And I'm assuming you have work here to get done this afternoon, so I'll just go home and do nothing." She shrugged.

"You like doing nothing?" he asked laughing.

"No. I love doing nothing," she laughed.

"Want to go out tonight? Somewhere real quiet, where we won't get seen." He asked her.

"Where we _won't_ get seen…" she smiled again. "You don't know good that sounds!"

So they parted in the office. Somehow it took longer then expected and he return to his work until he couldn't stand it any longer.

At which point the idea of spoiling her with gifts had overtaken him and he headed into Diagon Alley like a man possessed, cell phone switched off so no one could call him back to the bank.

"I'll take it," he told the sales assistant, who still had her hands hovering over the set. He didn't even blink at the price.

She nodded. "Wrapped?" she asked.

The package looked gorgeous in silver and gold paper and as he left the store he thought it wasn't enough. Ginny needed flowers too.

He came away with a dozen of pink roses. Draco grinned all the way home doing his best to hurry because he couldn't wait.

It was nearly six now, and according to him too long since he last seen Ginny. Glancing at the gift and flowers he sighed softly.

Who knew he was such a romantic? And who knew he could be so shameless about it?

His first inkling that something was wrong came when the house appeared darker than he thought it would be. The surprising her with a gift fantasy vanished, but he reminded himself she might have had some errands to run.

She might have even gone back to the bank to surprise him he thought as he entered the house. But the house seemed to contain a different kind of silence, tonight.

He looked in the kitchen and found his dishes from this morning washed and dried sitting neatly on the rack. He went along to his bedroom, which seemed far too tidy.

The bed was neatly made and there was no evidence of him even sleeping there the night before. Suspecting the worst he quickly ran to the spare room. Her room.

Throwing open the closet door his heart dropped. It took everything he had not to fall to the floor. The closet in the room was empty, and her suitcase was gone.

His scalp tightened, along with his chest, this was…ridiculous. Wrong. Unforgivable.

They planned dinner. Correction, they'd planned a whole life. Together. Here. Ginny had called it "home" with a radiant smile on her face.

She even asked if her family could come down and she made it clear that she wasn't planning to go running back to her brother to kiss everything better.

What had she said to him this morning when he was eating breakfast, even before their confrontation at the bank? Going home wouldn't bring Luna back to her brother.

And yet clearly she left, even though she had to be in no doubt as to what he'd think about that. He paced through the house, fist balled and throat screaming, not understanding at all.

She promised to stay with him. They made a vowed and sealed it even. She let him make love to her twice today and left him to find her gone. Leaving nothing but a broken heart and what might have been.

Never in his life did he think the mighty Draco Malfoy would fall. Again.

Finally he made it to his study. That was where he found the note, sitting on the desk beside his phone.

"I'm sorry" Ginny wrote in a hasty scrawl. Which he could barely read.

"I've gone home and I know what that means. I know it blows everything out of the

water again. I'm going to have to live with that. Not quite sure how I'm going to do

that right now. But Dad in St Mungo's. Spoke to the healer. It's a coma Draco and it's serious.

Tried to call you but you left the office and your cell phone was off. Probably better this way.

Better that the illusions didn't last long. I'm going to try and get there was soon as possible.

"Once again I'm sorry…. Ginny"

You couldn't see where you were going and cry. It wasn't safe. And when your dad was in the hospital in a coma with complications, you had to stay safe no matter what, so Ginny kept going and her eyes stayed dry.

Aching and dry. She had no shred of illusion about what she was driving away from. Her marriage. Draco.

They hadn't solved anything, this morning. They'd only thought they had.

Things had been wonderful this morning for them. Twice they made love, but all it took was one blip on the radar of her life and everything got stripped away again.

What had he said to her this morning? "We'd have lost our last chance if you'd gone back home today."

He was still forcing her to choose between him and her family, and she'd have to learn to hate him for that, if she could.

This morning she thought she could make the choice he wanted. The choice she wanted, too in so many ways. It was easier when things seemed rosy.

Ron would come down to get over his broken heart. Ginny would be closer to Hogwarts and she could help Draco with the bank, and count on school breaks to see her family.

Except now her dad was in the hospital and the fantasy faded. And as she said to Draco in the note. She knew what she was doing by heading home. She was putting another mile between him and her with every passing minute.

Permanently.

Percy's phone call about Dad had come at two, and Ginny left Draco's within a half an hour. She had questions about what happened but didn't waste time asking them over the phone.

"He's been working long hours. He wouldn't tell us anything about it. And he told us he was on top of his appointments with the healer." Was all Percy said.

"And with our own schedules we haven't been able to keeps tabs on him the past couple of days. We've all been way too distracted and upset. Obviously." He finished.

That last statement had made Ginny feel guilty. Thinking back on it, she knew Percy intended for it too, which made her feel angry too. Was this really the right time to use emotional weapons like that?

You're right, Draco. Right about some of it.

When Dad is better again…oh please, dear god…I'm going to make a few changes in my life. I'm going to take a long vacation. She thought.

Once she neared the burrow she debated going home first, but decided to head direct for St.Mungo's.

She knew all about how hospital's worked, from the time when her father was bit by Voldemort's snake and then her mother's illness years ago. They were always going. Even if they wouldn't allow her to see him yet, she could at least get some answers from the healers.

Entering the building fifteen minutes later, she saw the many people walking down hallways or going up elevators. There was even some apparently waiting to be seen still.

Walking up to the desk she asked about her father's room and floor number, then took the lift up to the second floor. At the desk in front of the floor, she got a cautious but not terrible report.

"He's out of the coma, but we still have cause for concern. He still needs to be watched, which means his temperature is pretty high and he may seem confused." The healer told her.

"You have him on any healing spells?" Ginny asked concerned.

"We're trying everything to get him healed sweetheart. He's very sick, but we are getting a little more closer to healing him, now." The healer reassured her.

"What happened? What could have caused this? I've been away for several days. I'm usually the one who looks after dad." Ginny began.

"He was hit with a spell and it stopped his whole system. As you probably already know some spells are slow to heal. But we are doing everything we can."

"Would you like to see him? We can talk more later, if you have questions, and his healer will be around some time this morning."

Ginny wiped the tears away that begun to fall down her cheeks. "I'd love to see him," she cried.

Too anxious to get there, she didn't stop to get flowers, but the room was already full of them, a tribute to her father's popularity and high profile in the ministry.

Arthur seemed almost lost in the profusion of color and scent, and he looked pale, lying against the white sheets.

She took his hand and whispered, "I'm here dad."

His eyes fluttered slowly open. "Ginny…" He smiled a broad, slow smile. Then went back to sleep.

Ginny sat for some minutes, just holding his hand, so relived at having gotten here safely, to find him apparently "doing better" although to her this only suggested how bad he must have looked before.

After a while, he slowly opened his eyes again.

"How're you doing?" she asked.

He smiled again. "Better. Much. Now you're here. Happy to see you. I'm buying the magazine."

"I'm sorry?" she said frowning.

"Witch Weekly. No more articles about Draco. He says I don't have to do that." Arthur said smiling.

"Does he?" she frowned, her heart jumping into her throat at the mention of her husband. The lady she spoke to earlier had come into the room.

She stepped closer and mouthed over his head "Confused. It happens. It's the counter spells. It's okay. They say things that don't make sense. He wont remember, once they began to take effect and he gets better"

He already closed his eyes once more. Ginny felt so tempted to do the same.

His rhythmic breathing and his warm hand in hers made her feel sleepy, and she was exhausted after the trip. Since he was so quiet, and clearly wasn't feeling bright enough to talk.

In fact he looked fast asleep, now and it wouldn't hurt to rest for a while, because Ron or Fred and George and Percy would probably be here soon and that would wake her up again.

She saw herself -slipping away from Draco across her vision the moment she closed her eyes. And when she opened them again, unconsciously sensing movement and sound.

Draco was there, standing tall and strong and gorgeous and definitely forbidding, beside her dad's table full of flowers.

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoyed it. Please review good or bad.**

**And I would like to shout out to the following people: Die loreley, louey31, Amanda Mancini, writrfreak15, Madam s butterfly, Plzkthx 101, Aleja21, Musical Mookey, Smart Alek, squirrel wrath.**


	11. Coming back

**Chapter 10- Coming back**

Ginny couldn't believe her eyes. She had to be more exhausted then she thought she was. Cause she swore Draco was standing right there in front of her.

Which was impossible, unless…

"I flooed here last night." He said stepping forward.

The light from the hallway shown brightly on his face and she gasped. He was really here. Feeling confused and surprised she frowned to hide it.

"To serve me with divorce papers in person?" Her voice came out hard and strident, because she couldn't let him see how much it hurt to suddenly find him here when she thought she might never see him again.

And as she fully expected, he was angry with her. She could see it in his face.

"A divorce. Is that what you want, Gin?" he asked.

She chewed on her bottom lip for a minute before she answered him.

"No, of course it isn't. But I don't have a choice. Or rather, a choice is exactly what I have. It's the only thing I have. You've been forcing it on me all along, and when I heard how ill Dad was, I knew there was only one choice I could make." She said.

Folding his arms he scoffed. "Yeah? And what was that?" he shot back.

"To come back, even though I knew you'd think that was, oh, everything you've been so critical about. The lemon lipped spinster sacrificing herself for her family. The woman who doesn't have the courage to choose _you_ over everything and anything else that might be important to her. You said yesterday morning that if I'd gone back we would have lost our last chance." She sighed to tired to go on.

"No Gin. You've got it wrong. So wrong." She ignored him.

"I _wanted_ to choose you since I came to you in Diagon Alley. So much. When we made love. When we laughed together."

The words began catching in her throat.

"When I remembered everything we had, and saw how much you've built, everything you always wanted, so successfully. And what I could contribute to it, too. But how can I love a man who asks me to sacrifice my family? Didn't you understand that from the note I left you? Why are you here?

She hissed when he didn't answer only shrugged.

"Because I'm not asking you to sacrifice your family, Ginny." He told her.

She just laughed at this.

"I'm not. I've never wanted that. Yes, I didn't want you to come running back here to stitch together Ron's broken relationship with Luna, the way you've tried to stitch everything else together for them all, over the years."

Draco sighed heavily before continuing, he didn't even know if he was getting through to her.

"I thought you could give him enough love and support just by listening, and that he should be resilient enough to get through it with the support of everyone else he has around him. Your father, your brothers, hell even Harry and Hermione." He drawled.

"Okay, yes and you convinced me on that, but…" she tried to say.

"But do you really think I don't understand that your dad's illness is different? His gray eyes blazed.

"That I wouldn't want you to drop everything to get to his side? Shit, Ginny, of course I do! Of course that's the right way to feel! You didn't even give me the chance to say so." He huffed.

Gasping Ginny paced in front of him, Taking in a few deep breaths to keep herself as calm as possible. "I had to leave immediately. I tried calling you, but I couldn't get through, and I wasn't going to wait. I didn't think it would make a difference to how you felt."

"And I got here way before you did, arrived at the hospital, and saw your father for a few minutes last night." He countered.

"They let you see him?" she asked surprised.

"I told them the situation, and then yes, they did." He nodded.

"The situation?" she asked throwing her hands up in question.

"That I'm his son in law. I've been his son in law for twelve years, and I care about him. Ginny, there is an upside to having money. I get some luxuries that others still have a hard time coming by. Like my own private floo network. Gin, we could have flooed here together. It took seconds, door to door."

Ginny choose that time to look up at him and once she did her heart dropped. He looked so hurt, so deceived. So alone. The same way she did.

"How could you have thought for one second that I wouldn't have wanted you to do that?" he sighed.

He came around the end of the bed toward her, and she stood up, overwhelmed by the intensity she saw in his face. "Oh, Draco…I'm…I'm sorry." She cried.

"And I'm sorry, too, if I've seemed that hard core. You have to understand that I'm not asking you to choose," he repeated.

"Please understand that. A big advantage to my success is that you wouldn't be that far from your family. Just a short floo away. Saying no to Ron wasn't about asking you to choose me over him." He finished.

Ginny looked down at the floor. "I guess it wasn't," she said.

"And do you know what it was about?" he asked her, wanting her to understand, begging for her to understand.

"Sucking on a lemon." She touched her fingertips to her mouth knowing he was watching her. "And never doing things for myself."

"So you do understand then." He felt relived. "All of that. How could I want the woman I love to get so locked away in her sense of duty to others? Not just away from me, but away from her own needs."

"The Woman I love Ginny, for always, and the woman I need. Please don't doubt that any more."

"Draco I …"

He kissed her, sweet and slow, with the promise of so much more to come. The both sensed movement in the doorway, and turned to find Ron himself standing there. Ron and someone else.

Someone small and female and looking extremely content. Luna.

Ron looked a little shame-faced about her presence, and about the fact that her hand was closed tightly around his.

"It was a healer," he told Ginny. "I flipped out for nothing."

"The man at the house?" Ginny asked with a raised brow.

"Luna was right. It was my entire problem. You were right, Luna. I've told you that, what a thousand times now, since yesterday?"

Ron pulled Luna closer to him, smiled large, looked down into her eyes and stroked her face, before turning back to Ginny.

"When Luna began to avoid me it was making me paranoid Gin, and the more I pushed and the more she fled, the more paranoid I got. She was angry when I came to her house that night, and she was right to be angry, and she has forgiven me and came down last night and we talked." Ron told her.

"Ginny there is something we have to tell you. The reason Luna was avoiding me was because we are having a baby" he paused long enough for Ginny to throw her hand over her mouth and smile.

"She was worried how I would take it, and was scared to tell me. But she did and everything is perfect now!" he grinned.

"Can you believe it Gin I'm going to have a child. And it's with the most wonderful woman in the world." He said kissing Luna on the cheek.

Ginny grinned at her brother. She was going to be an aunt. She couldn't have been happier for him. Ron and Luna worked through their problems.

If only her Dad hadn't gotten sick then maybe she could be back at Draco's feeling the same happiness as her brother was. But things happened for a reason and she had to accept that.

The thought saddened her and Ron must have sensed it because he let go of Luna and came toward her, his arms stretched out in a big hug.

"Ah, Ron," Ginny whispered, hugging him.

"Gin, I'm so sorry about how much I put on you! How much we all put on you. Fred and George and I had a huge talk last night after we left dad. Three in the morning while Luna was asleep upstairs!" he sighed.

"We blame ourselves for not looking after dad better. And Percy wants to apologize for that line he delivered to you on the phone yesterday, suggesting it was your fault for not being here."

"Ron…" she sighed.

"No!" he cried cutting her off. "Let me say it, don't' let us off the hook. It gave us a huge scare, and if his healer hadn't told us that he was close to dying…" His voice dried to a rasp and his eyes watered.

"I'm not sure how we could ever had forgiven ourselves. I'm still not sure how you can forgive us. Do you Gin?" he asked.

"Of course I do. I know your hearts are in the right place. We've all gotten into some bad habits with each other, over the years." Ginny smiled.

"Bill and Charlie want to say it too. And even Dad, a couple days ago, before he got cursed, said a few things about how much things fell apart when you weren't around, and how that wasn't good for any of us." He frowned.

"You must of all. Major wake up call to all of us. You should go live among the muggles or something, until we tell you it's safe to come back"

Ginny gave a little sideways glance at Draco. "Or maybe not with the muggles… Diagon Alley is looking pretty good, right now," Ginny answered slowly.

"Oh, Gin! Oh true?" Ron's face lit up. "Most defiantly, because you look and Malfoy looks… and what is that you're holding out to her?" he asked looking past Ginny at Draco.

"Ginny I think he's trying to give you something" Ron told her.

Ginny let go of him and whirled around, to meet a huge bunch of flowers and an exquisitely wrapped gift.

"The flowers survived the floo pretty well," Draco said. "And the gift isn't perishable."

"You brought them with you?" she asked thinking he must have put them down somewhere before she'd opened her eyes and seen him, and they'd been camouflaged by all the other flowers and gifts in Dad's room.

"I came home with them at around six yesterday evening, after I goofed off shopping for half the afternoon." Draco stepped closer.

"That was when I found you and your things gone, and your note in my study, and I felt like my heart had died all over again.

"Go, what are you waiting for?" Ron said pushing her the final distance toward Draco so that she almost collided into the huge bunch of flowers.

"I'm thinking you two still have stuff to talk about. I'll take care of Dad, if he wakes up, and I'll write down everything the healer says, if you miss him."

"Thanks Weasley" Draco told Ron.

Ginny didn't argue with either of them. She took the lavish bunch of flowers from Draco and walked out of the front entrance with them still in her arms a minute later.

She was definitely going against the regular flow of traffic that way. People didn't usually walk out of a hospital carrying flowers…unless maybe they had a baby in their arms as well.

Draco caught her smiling, and she explained as they walked outside.

"They are probably wondering why I'm getting a cut of the flowers." She said laughing.

"They'll think it's one of the perks of being Arthur's daughter," he said as he dropped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Getting a cut of the flowers"

She leaned her head against his chest, her heart almost ready to burst. "Except I'm far more interested in the perks of being Draco Malfoy's wife. May I see what's in the box? May I guess that it is for me?" she said.

He kissed her hair and the corner of her mouth. "You may see what's in the box, but I think it's really for me." He smiled.

He held it out to her, while he waited for her to take it.

Ginny laughed as she took it, and handed him the flowers to hold. "Oh it is?"

"I never did this for you when we were together the first time around," he said watching her fingers at work.

"No I guess not, but that never matter Draco" she assured him.

He leaned closer and brushed his forehead against hers. "I was intent on saving for our future, I think the most glamorous, luxurious gift I ever gave you was a necklace with the Malfoy family crest on it."

"I remember that!" she laughed. "I didn't mind Draco. I loved that necklace and I understood about all of that."

"Too easily I might add," he said before kissing her again. Her ear, her neck, her jaw, her mouth.

"From now on, I'm spoiling you with or without your understanding." He looked into her eyes and she saw how serious he was about it and she smiled.

"Then I'm helpless, I guess" she shrugged.

Smiling, she gave him the ribbons and the paper, and then lifted the lid of the box. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open.

She started to laugh with happiness, and the cream and gold of the satin and jewels blurred as her eyes filled with tears.

"Helpless" she repeated, her voice soft. Reaching up to bring his mouth down to hers once more. She added, "And totally in love with my husband."

"Who is totally in love with his wife," Draco whispered his words mingled in their kiss.

"Yes this is definitely a gift for me, more than you, sweetie. To see your face. To know I can make you this happy. To know that this time we've understood what went wrong, and we've got it right this time and to have such faith that we'll never get it so horribly wrong again. I love you so much."

"So much," she echoed, and the roses were slowly crushed between them as their bodies clung together.

**There it is chapter 10. The next chapter will be out soon. I hope you like the story and please review good or bad. Well until next time enjoy and you guys rock.**

**Bra4goten**


	12. Epilogue

**Chapter 11- Epilogue**

Two months later, Draco reflected on his complicated feelings regarding hospitals as he finally arrived at St. Mungo's and checked his watch again.

He made a beautiful new start to his marriage here and the memory was still vivid and wonderful and he revisited the scene numerous times over the following days, making visits with Ginny to her father.

Today though, he was running late, and he'd have to apologize to both of them for that…as soon as he could find where he was supposed to be.

It was a large hospital and so many floors contained all kinds of magical injuries and he thought he could find them easily but certain events could make a man quite a lot less organized and in control than he was accustomed to being.

He finally calmed down enough to read the sign, headed for the lift, got out on the right floor, went along the corridor and found both Ginny and Arthur, reading magazines in the waiting area.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"That's fine." Ginny smiled. "We haven't been called back yet. I told Dad he really didn't need to come with me here, but"

"How many times over the years have you come with me to see the healer, back home, Gin?" Arthur cut in.

He was looking so much better than he had in the hospital two months ago. He finally started being more careful with his health and safety since the huge scare they'd all had.

He was visiting Ginny and Draco during a much-needed vacation and it was putting the color back into his cheeks. Ginny was the one who looked pale today.

"Seems like the least I could do," Arthur continued, "Since you're running to the bathroom every half hour and we even had to bring water and crackers for you to the check up."

"I'm fine," Ginny insisted again.

"I'm with your dad on this one," Draco told her.

His heart flipped when he looked at his wife. Eight weeks pregnant. When you'd been married for twelve years and decided it was time to start a family, you didn't waste any time, and Ginny being the daughter of Molly Weasley turned out to be fantastically fertile.

They conceived right away. He felt wonderful about it and terrified, too.

She'd been suffering a lot of morning sickness over the past two or three weeks. Not to mention afternoon sickness and evening sickness as well.

He wished the healers could get their terminology a little more accurate and honest, and he was worried. Was this normal?

At her first visit for which the healer was running late, Not Draco himself, he planned to find out.

A few minutes later, they were called in, while Arthur chose to remain in the waiting area with the magazines. Draco sweated through a long list of questions from the assistant healer.

He asked her about the sickness and she said some witches could get hit pretty badly, but that wasn't a good enough answer for him to stop his doubts.

Then she left and the healer came in. He did an exam and asked more question and agreed with the assistant, in response to Draco's question, that yes, morning sickness could hit some witches pretty bad…

…Although sometimes there could be underlying causes for it that needed investigation, he added.

Which was exactly what Draco had feared, and what he hadn't needed to hear.

Ginny seemed quite calm. Lying on the bed, she smiled at him and his chest started to hurt. He held her hand tighter, as the healer waved his wand over her belly. He wanted to kiss her so much that his mouth stung.

"This should reassure you," the healer said.

Waving his wand once more the healer brought up a smoky image of what seem to be a circular object. It made Draco feel queasy as he looked at it, Ginny was still smiling.

The healer waved his wand again and the shape appeared clearer. "There" he said. "Beautiful. Nice strong heartbeat."

"That's our baby?" Ginny squeaked.

"It is" the healer agreed

Draco couldn't speak.

"Wait a minute, though…" The healer frowned, flicked his wand and watched the smoky image. Another shape appeared, almost identical to the first.

"This may explain the degree of nausea you've been having, Mrs. Malfoy."

He focused more intently on the image and adjusted the image so both objects were in view at the same time. No doubt about it, there was two.

"Well, how about that!" the healer said. He lost his serious expression, now and was grinning from ear to ear.

"I guess its kind of upside-down appropriate, in a way, Mr. Malfoy, after all that magazine publicity you had a couple months ago."

"I guess it is," Draco had to agree. He'd started grinning now, too.

The healer moved the image again, and the two shapes got even clearer. They each had a blurred center, pulsing away in a steady rhythm.

"Oh, wow!" Ginny said. "Oh, _wow_!"

Oh wow, was right.

Draco could already see the headlines in the daily prophet, if not in Witch Weekly again. Around seven months from now, The Bachelor of the Year and his beautiful wife were going to have twins.

**Well there it is guys the end. I know I could have gone much further with this but I thought this made a very nice ending. I want to say thank you for everyone who reviewed and I will forever be grateful to you all for taking time out to read this.**

**I will be starting another story soon so check it out if you ever get the chance. **

**And last but not least I want to shout out to the following: **Plzkthx 101, Madame s butterfly, beckysue2, louey 31, ConnieAndHobbes, MIKaYGiRL, die loreley, Writrfreak15, peter-pan-equals-luv, Amanda Mancini, Not so sour Lemons.

**And anyone else who may review after this… Thanks and you guys rock.**


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